Rates Ease Lower on 15-, 30-Year Mortgages

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 7.09%, down from 7.15% last week, Freddie Mac said. A year ago, the rate on 30-year mortgages stood at 8.25% and was rising. In mid-May, rates on 30-year mortgages hit a five-year high of 8.64%. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, slipped to 6.66% last week, down from 6.70% the previous week. A year ago, 15-year mortgages averaged 7.85%. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.54%, compared with 6.64% the week before. Last year, one-year ARMs averaged 6.65%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.