Long-term mortgage rates remained relatively flat this week, indicating that the housing industry is still in a deep slump, according to the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac. The company released its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) results yesterday.

“The housing market is continuing to act as a drag on the economy,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's VP and chief economist.

He added that the inventory of unsold homes remains at historically high levels, despite initial signs of improvement recently. Additionally, as we reported last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that mortgage applications had dropped to the slowest pace since February 2003.

According to Freddie Mac's PMMS for the week ended August 7, 2008, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.52 percent, unchanged from last week's findings, and only slightly lower than the same period a year ago in which it averaged 6.59 percent.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 6.10 percent, only a subtle increase from last week when it averaged 6.07 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.25 percent.

The PMMS also documented minimal decreases in Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) for the week. Five-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 6.05 percent, while one-year ARMs averaged 5.22 percent.

To review a summary of Freddie Mac's PMMS results, click here.