Mortgage Rates Fall This Week; 30-Year Fixed At 4.82% -Freddie

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Mortgage rates fell this week as the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages remained below 5%, according to Freddie Mac's (FRE) weekly survey of mortgage rates.

Mortgage rates have fallen in recent months as providers try to entice buyers amid the housing market downturn and the federal government's commitment to buy hundreds of billions of dollars worth of mortgages. But many consumers are wary of making the commitment to purchase a home - and many prospective buyers face challenges getting financing amid the tight credit market.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.82% for the week ended Thursday, down from last week's 4.87% average and 5.88% a year ago.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.48%, down from 4.54% last week and 5.4% a year earlier. This week's rate was the lowest the 15-year fixed has been since Freddie Mac began tracking it in August 1991.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.88%, down from 4.93% last week and below their 5.48% average a year ago. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.91%, up from 4.83% last week but down from 5.1% last year.

To obtain the rates, the fixed-rate mortgages and the 5-year ARM required payment of an average 0.7 point and the 1-year ARM required an average 0.5 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.

"The housing industry is starting to exhibit some positive signs, albeit scarce and too early to tell how permanent," said Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft. He added the Federal Reserve reported earlier this week that better-than-expected buyer traffic led to increased home sales of late in a number of areas.

-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089; [e-mail]