Mortgage Rates Fall This Week; 30-Year Fixed At 4.83% -Freddie

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Mortgage rates fell this week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages retreating further below 5%, according to Freddie Mac's (FRE) weekly survey of mortgage rates.

The rate on 15-year fixed mortgages fell to its lowest level since Freddie started recording in 1991, while the 30-year rate was at the lowest level in six months, according to Freddie chief economist Frank Nothaft.

Wednesday, the Commerce Department said home construction fell sharply in October--an unexpected drop that erased months of gains--because of uncertainty about a tax credit getting renewed. Congress earlier this month extended the relief through April. And although home resales surged in September, the department said new-home sales fell unexpectedly in September after five months of growth.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.83% for the week ended Thursday, down from last week's 4.91% average and 6.04% a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.32%, down from 4.4% last week and 5.7% a year earlier. The old record low of 4.33% was set early last month.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.25%, down from last week's 4.35% and 5.87% a year earlier. The latest figure is the lowest since Freddie began tracking that loan four years ago. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.35%, down from 4.47% last week and 5.29% a year earlier.

To obtain the rates, the 30-year mortgage required payment of an average 0.7 point, while the rest required an average 0.6 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest

-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291; joan.solsman@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 19, 2009 10:36 ET (15:36 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.