Mortgages rates drop, good news for homebuyers

Freddie Mac to the Rescue!

Mortgage rates around the country edged down this week, with rates on 30-year home loans sinking to their lowest point in a month, good news for prospective buyers.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.68 percent. That was down slightly from 6.69 percent last week and was the lowest since early July, when rates stood at 6.63 percent.

The moderation is welcome for people in the market to buy a home. In mid-June, rates on 30-year mortgages had climbed to 6.74 percent, an 11-month high.

Rates on mortgages are ebbing as recent stock market turbulence has prompted investors to plow money into bonds, driving down rates on bonds. That, in turn, has pushed down rates on mortgages.

"Market investors seeking safety from the subprime fallout bought Treasury securities, pushing bond yields down and allowing mortgage rates to drift a bit lower," explained Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, also moved lower this week. They dropped to 6.32 percent from 6.37 percent last week.

For five-year adjustable-rate mortgages, rates dipped to 6.29 percent this week. That was down a bit from 6.30 percent last week. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages sank to 5.59 percent this week, compared with 5.69 percent last week.

The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year and 15-year mortgages each carried a nationwide average fee of 0.3 point. Five-year and one-year ARMs each carried an average fee of 0.5 point.

A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.63 percent, 15-year mortgages were at 6.27 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages also averaged 6.27 percent and one-year ARMs were at 5.69 percent.

After a five-year boom, the housing market fell into a slump last year. Sales turned weak as did home prices. The slump is expected to drag on probably through the rest of this year.

Worries about the sour housing market along with fears that problems with higher-risk subprime mortgages will spread, caused stocks to crater last week. The carnage left the Dow Jones industrials down more than 585 points, its worst week in five years. Stocks have gyrated since then, reflecting lingering anxiety among investors.