The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported Tuesday that the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders, used as an index in some ARM contracts, was 4.42 percent based on loans closed in November. This is a decrease of 0.07 percent from the previous month. FHFA also reports the average interest rate on conventional, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loans of $417,000 or less decreased 12 basis points to 4.38 percent in November. These rates are calculated from the FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey of purchase-money mortgages. These results reflect loans closed during the Nov. 23-30 period.