BANKING

<p>Mortgage Rates Down: Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7% this week, down from 7.02% last week and the lowest level in nearly two years, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said. The rate was the lowest since they averaged 6.97% during the week ended Feb. 3, 1994. Rates rose to 9.25% on Dec. 15, 1994, before they started falling. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.37%, down from 5.40% last week. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 6.5% this week, down from 6.53% a week earlier. The rates do not include add-on fees.