30-year mortgage rates fall again

WASHINGTON – Rates on 30-year mortgages fell sharply again this week, dropping to the lowest level in more than two years.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.96 percent. That was down from 6.10 percent last week and was the lowest rate since the week of Sept. 29, 2005, when they averaged 5.91 percent.

Analysts attributed the decline to worries about what a severe slump in housing and a lingering credit crunch could do to consumer confidence and the overall economy.

“With lower consumer spending and personal income gains in October, interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities fell lower this week and mortgage rates followed,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, slid to 5.65 percent, from 5.73 percent last week.

For five-year adjustable-rate mortgages, rates fell to 5.75 percent, compared to 5.86 percent last week.

Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages edged up slightly to 5.46 percent, compared to 5.43 percent last week.

The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year mortgages carried a nationwide average fee of 0.4 point while 15-year and five-year mortgages both carried a 0.5 point fee. The one-year ARM carried an average fee of 0.6 point.