mortgage rates are trending lower but had a mixed week with the average rate on the popular 30year fixedrate mortgage ticking down while the average 15year rate moved higher in the week ending thursday the average rate on a 30year fixedrate mortgage slipped to 627 from 631 the prior week a year ago the average rate was 305 average 15year rates were 569 up from 554 last week freddie mac said a year ago the 15year fixedrate mortgage rate averaged 230 heading into the holidays mortgage rates continued to move down said sam khater freddie macs chief economist rates have declined significantly over the past six weeks which is helpful for potential homebuyers but new data indicates homeowners are hesitant to list their homes he said many of those homeowners are carefully weighing their options as more than twothirds of current homeowners have a fixed mortgage rate of below 4