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Fixed-rate mortgages held steady this past week, but adjustable-rate mortgages again fell to record lows, Freddie Mac reported today.

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This marks the sixth straight week in which one mortgage type or another hit a record low.

Mortgage rates have been falling steadily in tiny increments since April as investors flock to the security of U.S. Treasuries  that influence home loan rates.

Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft noted also that since inflation is low, there’s no impetus to raise interest rates on long-term Treasury bonds.

“With little sign of inflation to push up long-term interest rates, fixed mortgage rates held relatively steady this week, while ARM rates hit new all-time record lows,” he said.

Freddie Mac’s latest weekly survey results show:

• Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage: 4.24% with 0.8 of a point (or 0.8% of the loan balance) paid up front. That’s up just 0.01 of a percentage point from last week’s rate, which translates into an increase of just $1.17 in the monthly interest payment on a $200,000 loan. The combined increase in interest over 30 years would be $421, so it’s virtually unchanged. But this rate is down nearly a full percentage point from the 2010 high of 5.21% on April 10. That 1% drop translates into a $117 savings in monthly interest payments and $42,000 over the life of a $200,000 loan. The low for this loan type is 4.19% in records dating back to 1971.
• Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgage: 3.63% with 0.7 of a point paid up front. That’s down from last week and just 0.01 of a percentage point above the low in records dating back to 1991. Fifteen-year rates have dropped 0.89 of a percentage point from April’s 2010 high, which translates into a monthly payment savings of $89 and a total interest-cost savings of $16,100 over the life of the loan.
• Five-year adjustable-rate loan (ARM): 3.39% with 0.6 of a point paid up front. That’s the lowest rate in records dating back to 2005 — and the 20th record low this year. With this type of loan, monthly payments are fixed for five years, then adjust based on prevailing rates for the remaining years.
• One-year ARM: 3.26% with 0.7 of a point paid up front. That’s the lowest rate in records dating back to 1984, the second such record this year. This loan type is fixed for the first year and adjusts periodically after that.