Posted on: Friday, September 12, 2003

After steady rise, 30-year mortgage rate falls to 6.16%

By Jeannine Aversa
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — After a steady upward climb since late June, mortgage rates edged down this week.

The average rate on 30-year mortgages fell to 6.16 percent for the week ending today, compared with last week's 6.44 percent, Freddie Mac reported yesterday in its weekly nationwide survey.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates fell to 5.46 percent from 5.77 percent. Rates for one-year adjustable mortgages dipped to 3.87 percent from 3.98 percent.

In the middle of June, rates on benchmark 30-year mortgages slid to 5.21 percent, the lowest level in more than four decades.

But since late June, rates on those mortgages as well as other types have mostly risen. Among the factors contributing to that trend are signs that the economy is picking up speed and concern about growing federal budget deficits, economists say. As a result, bond rates are up, causing long-term mortgage rates to rise.

But a government report last week showing that the economy lost jobs for the seventh month in a row "served to stem some of the enthusiasm in the Treasury bond market," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "This, of course, caused interest rates, including mortgage rates, to ease back from the highest level we had seen in a year," he said.

That helped boost home-mortgage refinancing activity.

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said its index of refinancing activity rose 45.5 percent last week from the previous week. "With mortgage rates decreasing for the first time in over two months, consumers are taking advantage of a dip in interest rates," said Doug Duncan, the association's chief economist.

The nationwide averages for mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Each loan type had an average fee of 0.6 point this week.

A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 6.18 percent, 15-year mortgages were 5.59 percent and one-year adjustable mortgages stood at 4.32 percent.