New data from Freddie Mac states that mortgage rates stayed around the same this week. The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for last week averaged 4.51%, up from 3.40% last year, and down 0.2% from the week prior, while the average 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage came in at 3.56% up 0.1% from last week. The chief economist and vice president of Freddie Mac, Frank Nothaft said, “mortgage rates were little changed amid a week of light economic reports.” Additionally, job reports showed a slight improvement, growing by 238,000 from November to December, up from 229,000 in November. More here