Rates dip on 30-year mortgages

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages dipped below 6 percent this week, falling to their lowest level in five weeks.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.98 percent this week. That was down from 6.01 percent last week.

It was the lowest level for 30-year mortgages since they averaged 5.88 percent the week of April 17. After that, 30-year rates climbed above 6 percent for four straight weeks.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages also fell, dropping to 5.55 percent, down from 5.60 percent last week. However, rates on one-year and five-year adjustable rate mortgages rose for the week.

The five-year adjustable-rate mortgage edged up to 5.61 percent from 5.57 percent last week. The rate on one-year ARMs rose to 5.24 percent, up from 5.18 percent last week.

Analysts said financial markets pushed longer-term rates down in response to economic reports showing continued weakness in the economy. However, rates on adjustable rate mortgages rose because they are more sensitive to what the Federal Reserve intends to do with the short-term rates it controls.

Financial markets are growing more convinced that the Fed has now moved to the sidelines and will not cut rates further out of concern about inflation pressures. The Fed aggressively cut rates seven straight times starting last September, with the last reduction occurring in April. But minutes of that meeting released Wednesday showed Fed officials viewed that April 30 quarter-point cut as a “close call.”

The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide average fee for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 0.5 point. The other mortgage categories surveyed by Freddie Mac all carried a 0.6 point average fee.

A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.37 percent, 15-year mortgage rates averaged 6.06 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 6.02 percent and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 5.64 percent.