Mortgage rates fell across the board this week.

The average 30-year fixed-rate sank 20 basis points, to 5.64 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

The average 15-year fixed -- a popular option for refinancing -- plunged 30 basis points, to 5.16 percent. The average jumbo 30-year fixed dropped 9 basis points, to 7.14 percent.

Adjustable-rate mortgages also fell. The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage slipped 8 basis points, to 5.97 percent. The popular 5/1 ARM slid 9 basis points, to 5.86 percent.

Mortgage activity remained "essentially unchanged" for the week ending Dec. 26, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Refinancing activity fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent from the previous week, while applications for new purchase climbed 1.4 percent, according to the MBA.

This week's numbers included an adjustment for the Christmas holiday. Although activity is leveling off, it remains near multiyear highs, thanks to a recent sharp decline in mortgage rates.

Meanwhile, housing prices fell sharply again in October, according to one of the most widely watched sales indexes. Prices fell 18 percent in October compared with a year earlier, according to the S&P Case-Shiller index. The reading marked the 27th straight month that prices have fallen in the 20-city index.

-- Chris Kissell

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