mortgage rates showed little change in the past week according to freddie macs latest survey for the week ended thursday the rate on a 30day fixed rate mortgage averaged 288 up slightly from 286 last week and lower than the 29 rate it averaged a year earlier homebuyers continue to snap up available inventory which has slightly improved and homeprice growth is moderating said sam khater freddie macs chief economist but the next few months will be choppy as some homebuilders are signaling that they are going to deliver less supply amid shortages of labor and materials he added meanwhile the slowdown in economic growth around the world has led to a flight to the quality of the us financial markets mr khater said this has led to a rise in foreign investor purchases of us treasuries causing mortgage rates to remain in place despite the increasing dispersion of inflation across different consumer goods and services he said rates on 15year fixedrate mortgages averaged 215 up from 212 in the previous week rates averaged 24 a year earlier according to freddie mac fiveyear treasuryindexed hybrid adjustablerate mortgages or arms on average stood at 243 down from 251 last week and lower than the 29 rate a year earlier mortgage rates tend to move in the same direction as the yield on the 10year treasury treasury yields rise when investors feel confident enough in the economy to forgo safehaven assets such as bonds for riskier ones including stocks