Mortgage Rates Again Dip Below 7% Mark

Rates for 30-year mortgages dipped below the 7% mark this week for the second time this year. The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.98%, down from 7.09% last week, Freddie Mac said. The last time that 30-year rates slipped below 7% was the week ended Jan. 12, when they were at 6.89%. Since then, the 30-year average rate has bobbed between 7.02% and 7.15%. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, declined to 6.60% last week, down from 6.66% the previous week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.45%, compared with 6.54% the week before. Last year, one-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.73%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.