Mortgage Rates Fall This Week;30-Year Fixed At 5.14%-Freddie Mac

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

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

Mortgage rates had fallen earlier this year as providers tried to entice buyers during the housing market downturn, but yields on Treasurys have jumped the past month, helping push mortgage rates higher.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.14% for the week ended Thursday, down from last week's 5.2% average and 6.26% a year ago.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.63%, down from 4.69% last week and 5.78% a year earlier.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.83%, up from last week's 4.82% but down from 5.8% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.76%, down from 4.82% and 5.1%, respectively.

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

-By Kerry Grace Benn, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2353; [e-mail]