Mortgage Rates Under 7% for 30th Week

The interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.79% this week, down from 6.83% last week, said Freddie Mac, the federal mortgage company. It was the 30th consecutive week that the average remained below 7%. It reached a 31-year low of 6.49% in early October. Its peak for 1998 was 7.22% in late April. Economists expect it to remain low this year. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 6.43% this week, down from 6.48%. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.61%, down from 5.63%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.