Rates on 30--Year Mortgages Drop

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 6.92% for the week ending Aug. 17, down from 7% last week, Freddie Mac said. Last week’s rate on 30-year mortgages was the lowest since March 30, when rates averaged 6.91%.

Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, also declined to 6.48% this week, from 6.54% the previous week.

A year ago, rates for 30-year mortgages averaged 7.96% and rates for 15-year mortgages averaged 7.70%.

On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.71%, up slightly from 5.70% the week before. Last year, one-year ARMs stood at 7.21%.

These rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged around 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.