Mortgage Rates Decline Sharply Across Board

Mortgage rates fell sharply this week, with rates for 30-year and 15-year mortgages hitting their lowest levels in nearly a year. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages declined to 7.68% for the week ending today, down from 7.83% reached the previous week, Freddie Mac said. This week’s 30-year rate was the lowest since Nov. 12, 1999, when the rate averaged 7.67%, and is a far cry from mid-May, when 30-year rates hit a five-year high of 8.64%. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, fell to an average 7.36% this week from 7.5% last week. This week’s 15-year rate was the lowest since Nov. 19, 1999, when it averaged 7.31%. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 7.22%, down from 7.25% the week before. For the same period last year, one-year ARMS averaged 6.35%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.