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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, June 27, 2003

Long-term fixed mortgage rates up slightly

 •  Current mortgage rates

By Jeannine Aversa
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages rose slightly this week, but still hovered near record lows. Rates on one-year-adjustable mortgages, meanwhile, dropped to the lowest level ever.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for the week ending June 27 was 5.24 percent, up slightly from 5.21 percent last week, Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant, reported yesterday in its weekly nationwide survey.

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a new low of 5.21 percent two weeks ago and stayed there last week. The rate of 5.21 percent was the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking 30-year mortgages in 1971. Records that reach back earlier indicate that the rate is the lowest in more than four decades, economists said.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates inched up to 4.63 percent this week, from 4.62 percent last week.

Rates for one-year adjustable mortgages declined to a new low of 3.45 percent this week, surpassing the previous low of 3.51 percent set last week. Freddie Mac's records on one-year ARMs go back to 1984.

Low mortgage rates are keeping the housing market healthy. And, they are feeding a home-mortgage refinancing boom, something that is helping to support spending by consumers, a key force keeping the economy going.

Refinancing activity accounted for 75.8 percent of all mortgage loan applications filed last week, down from 77.3 percent the week before, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America reported.

This week's mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Each loan type carried an average fee of 0.6 point this week.

A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 6.55 percent, 15-year mortgages were 5.99 percent and one-year adjustable mortgages stood at 4.61 percent.