Rates for 30- and 15-Year Mortgages Dip

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edged down to 7.80% this week from 7.93% last week, mortgage company Freddie Mac said in reporting the results of its weekly survey. So far this year, the average rates for a 30-year mortgage hit a low of 6.74%, set at the end of January, and a high of 8.15% two weeks ago. Rates for 15-year mortgages averaged 7.43% this week, down from 7.53% last week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.22% this week, up from 6.18% last week. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged at or just over 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages. In a separate report, the Mortgage Bankers Assn. said that the number of mortgage loan applications for the week ending Aug. 20 was down 1.9% from the previous week and down 22.5% compared with the same week last year.