Mortgage Rates Fall As Bond Yields Ease

Mortgage rates edged down this week, reflecting a decline in Treasury bond yields in recent weeks.

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages slipped to 7.2%, down from 7.24% last week, according to a nationwide survey by Freddie Mac, the mortgage company.

Fifteen-year mortgages fell to 6.74% this week from 6.78%.

At the same time last year, rates for 30-year mortgages averaged 8.32%, and 15-year mortgages averaged 8.04%.

On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.85%, down from 5.89% the week before. Last year at this time, one-year ARMs were at a nine-year high of 7.24%.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.

Treasury bond yields, the benchmark for conventional mortgages, have pulled back in recent weeks amid more signs of economic weakness.