Mortgage Rates Fall

The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.04 percent, with points averaging 0.7 for the week ended Sept. 17. That is down from previous week, when it averaged 5.07 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

Last year at this time, the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.78 percent.
The 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage this week averaged 4.47 percent, with points averaging 0.6, down from the previous week, when it averaged 4.5 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.35 percent. This is the lowest it has been since the McLean, Va.-based lender (NYSE: FRE) started tracking it in 1991.

“Interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages eased for the third consecutive week and remained at three-month lows,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist, in a news release.

On Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that loan applications fell by a seasonally adjusted 8.6 percent, the result of the Labor Day holiday.

Reprinted from Los Angeles Business from bizjournals – Sept. 17, 2009