NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Mortgage rates fell to a record low last week, but homebuyers remain on the sidelines, according to data released Thursday.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage decreased to 4.12% over the past week, Freddie Mac(FMCC) said, down from 4.22% in the prior week. That marks the lowest rate from records kept by the firm since 1971. The average 15-year rate fell to 3.33% from 3.39%. Freddie Mac spokesman Chad Wandler said home loan rates are at their lowest levels since the 1950s, according to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

“Homebuyers are not responding to these record-low interest rates,” IHS Global Insight economist Patrick Newport told Bloomberg. “The reason interest rates are dropping recently is that the outlook for the economy has gotten weaker. A smart person would be very careful about buying a home unless he thinks his job is very secure.”

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that mortgage application activity fell 4.9% for the week ending Sept. 2. The refinance index fell 6.3% week over week as loan rates fell, indicating that even existing homeowners are decreasingly looking to take advantage of low mortgage rates.

The MBAA’s report showed that the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage last week fell to 4.23%, from 4.32%. It was the second-lowest rate in the survey’s history while its 15-year rate, at 3.41%, marked a new record low.

“Despite these rates however, refinance application volume fell for the third straight week, and is more than 35% below levels at this time last year,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “Purchase application volume remains relatively flat at extremely low levels, close to lows last seen in 1996.”