Mortgage Rates Slip For Fourth Consecutive Week

Average interest rates for U.S. mortgages dropped for the fourth week in a row, to levels not seen since the beginning of the 2006, according to a survey released by finance company Freddie Mac on Thursday.

Conventional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage borrowing costs fell to just 6.11 percent from 6.14 percent, the lowest since 6.10 percent the week ending January 19.

Rates on 15-year mortgage loans also slipped down a bit to 5.84 percent, a decline from 5.87 percent a week before. The last time 15-year loans could be secured at lower interest was in the second week of February, when they averaged 5.83 percent.

One-year adjustable-rate mortgages, meanwhile, finished the week at just 5.43 percent, down from 5.46 percent last Thursday.

Crazy as it sounds, home mortgages are cheaper than they were a year ago, when 30-year mortgages averaged 6.32 percent, 15-year mortgages 5.87 percent, and the one-year ARM 5.16 percent.

“Continued signs of slowing in the housing market and weakness in the manufacturing sector helped keep mortgage rates down this week,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac V.P. and chief economist, said in a statement.

“Looking forward in the housing market, we think that housing is about 2/3 of the way through the correction, and should stabilize by mid-year 2007.”

Freddie Mac said lenders charged an average of 0.5 percent in fees and points on 30- and 15-year mortgages, both up from 0.4 percent last week. They charged 0.7 percent on the one-year ARM, the same as last week.

The “5/1″ hybrid ARM, which is set at a fixed interest rate for five years and adjustable each following year, fell to an average of 5.92 percent from 5.95 percent. Fees and points on the hybrid mortgage were unchanged at 0.5 percent.