By Elizabeth Martinez

A weak economy and The Federal Reserve's move to help lift the recovery by purchasing government debt have been important factor in the drop in mortgage rate reported this week.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for 30-year fixed loans this week was 4.44 percent, down from 4.49 percent last week. That's the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. Similarly, the average rate on the 15-year fixed loan dropped to 3.92 percent, down from 3.95 percent last week and the lowest on record.

Furthermore, rates on five-year adjustable-rate-mortgage averaged 3.56 percent, down from 3.63 percent a week earlier. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to an average of 3.53 percent from 3.55 percent.

In an attempt to help this situation, the central bank said Tuesday it would buy Treasuries to help aid the recovery, using the proceeds from debt and mortgage-backed securities it bought from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This move alone will not be enough to push average rates down to 4 percent, said Bob Walters, chief economist at Quicken Loans. But rates that low are still a possibility if the economic keeps weakening. If investors became convinced that a renewed recession is likely, they would move even more money away from stocks and into bonds and mortgage debt. That would send rates down further explained Alan Zible from Associated Press.