30- and 15-Year Mortgage Rates Inch Down

The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages edged down to 8.20% for the week ending April 7 from 8.23% the previous week, Freddie Mac said. This time a year ago, 30-year mortgages stood at 6.87%. In mid-February, the rates on 30-year mortgages hit a 3 1/2-year high of 8.38%. That was the highest since an 8.42% rate for the week ending July 12, 1996. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, also ticked down this week to 7.83% from 7.84%. This time a year ago, 15-year mortgages were at 6.47%. On one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.79%, up from 6.76% last week. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged at or just over 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages. Separately, the Mortgage Bankers Assn. of America said that mortgage loan applications for the week ending March 31 decreased by 7.3% from the previous week and were down by 20.7% compared with the same week last year.