Mortgage Rates Fall Again This Week

Mortgage rates fell further this week, with the rate on a 30-year mortgage remaining below the 7% threshold for a second consecutive week.

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 6.91%, down slightly from 6.92% last week, according to Freddie Mac. It marked the lowest level for 30-year mortgages since last March, when rates dropped below 7% for four weeks.

Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, declined this week to 6.47% from 6.48% the previous week.

A year ago, rates for 30-year mortgages were more than a percentage point higher at 7.99% and rates for 15-year mortgages averaged 7.72%.

On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.68%, down from 5.71% the previous week. Last year at this time, ARMs stood at 7.37%.

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