For the first time in four weeks, mortgage rates dropped for the week recently ended June 18. According to the Freddie Mac weekly statistics, the average 30-year fixed- rate loan dropped from the earlier week's figures of 5.59 percent to 5.38 percent for this week.

Going by the year-on-year figures from Freddie Mac, the mortgage rates for the same week a year back averaged 6.42 percent.

With regard to the figures pertaining to 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, the average for the week ending June 18 stood at 4.89 percent, in comparison to the 5.06 percent average for the preceding week. Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages too dropped to a 4.97 percent average this week from the week-before figures of 5.17 percent.

Even one-year treasury index adjustable-rate mortgages averaged down this week - dropping to an average of 4.95 percent, as against the previous week average figures of 5.04 percent.

Meanwhile, the nationwide fee last week averaged 0.7 of a point for 30-year and 15-year mortgages; and 0.6 of a point for five-year and one-year adjustable rate loans.

Talking about the drop in this week's mortgage rates, the Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said: "Reports of benign inflation figures reversed the upward trend of mortgage rates this week."