The New Year has brought a bunch of new record low mortgage rates with it.

Three of the four types of home loans we track in our weekly survey of major lenders have never been cheaper.

Our Jan. 4 survey found the current national average is:

4.18% for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage. That breaks the previous record low of 4.19% set on Dec. 14, 2011.

3.40% for a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage. That beats the previous record low of 3.42% first reached in September and then again on Dec. 14, 2011.

4.62% for a 30-year, fixed-rate jumbo loan — mortgages for more than $417,000 to $625,000, depending on the city. The record had been 4.64% set the last week of December.

3.19% for a 5-year, adjustable-rate mortgage — loans where the initial interest rate remains fixed for the first five years and then changes once a year for the remaining 25 years. The record low of 3.05% was established set on Sept. 21, 2011.

Search for the best mortgage rates in your area using our extensive database of home loans from scores of banks and mortgage brokers.

You can use our mortgage calculator to determine the monthly payments for whatever amount you need.

Anyone planning to buy or refinance a home in 2012 should be able to take advantage of affordable mortgage rates like this.

Economists believe the average cost of a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage will remain at or near 4% throughout most of the year.

“Rates are likely going to stay very low, but I don’t think we’ll get much below 4%, assuming the recovery stays on track,” Aaron Smith, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics, recently told Interest.com.

If the economy were to pick up steam in the second half of the year, it could cause a slight rise in mortgage rates.

One major indicator pointing toward continued low interest rates is the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy long-term government debt through the end of June.

As the government-controlled bank said last fall when announcing the buying plan, it hoped to “put downward pressure on long-term interest rates.”

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