BANKING & FINANCE - April 21, 1995

Mortgage Rates Fall: Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.24% this week, down from 8.37% last week, according to a national survey released by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. It is the lowest since March 31, 1994, when the average was 8.04%. The average hit a 25-year low of 6.74% in October, 1993. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.32%, down from 6.38% last week. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 7.80% this week, down from 7.93% a week earlier. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.