Mortgage Rates Dip to 4-Month Low

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages slipped to a four-month low of 7.04% this week, Freddie Mac said. The decrease, from 7.05% last week, brought the average to its lowest level since mid-February. It was the fifth weekly decline since the average hit a 5 1/2-month high of 7.22% at the end of April. Earlier this year, the average sank even lower, to a four-year low of 6.89% in mid-January, as nervous investors poured money from turbulent Asian markets into U.S. bonds. The recent declines are the result of renewed jitters over Asia. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular refinancing option, rose to 6.71% from a 10-week low of 6.70% the previous week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.71%, up from 5.68% last week and matching the 11-month high of four weeks ago. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.