Mortgage Rates Drop to 22-Month Low

Mortgage interest rates fell to a 22-month low this week. The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 7.15%, down from 7.17%, according to Freddie Mac. The decline--the fifth in six weeks--brought the average to the lowest level since the week ended Feb. 15, 1996. Mortgage rates have been keying off the U.S. Treasury securities market, where investors fleeing Asian turmoil have been snapping up bonds. Thirty-year mortgage rates hit a peak for the year of 8.18% in early April, after the Federal Reserve Board last tightened monetary policy. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 6.71% this week, down from 6.73% and also the lowest since Feb. 15, 1996. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.50%, up from 5.47%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.