30-year mortgage rates near record low

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate U.S. mortgages fell close to the March record low, in the week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.

The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.94 percent with an average 0.7 points during the week ending Oct. 1, Freddie Mac said.

A week ago, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.04 percent. A year ago, rates averaged 6.1 percent.

Freddie Mac said the last time the rate dipped below 5 percent was in May, when it averaged 4.91 percent. In the week ending March 26, interest rates hit a record low of 4.85 percent.

At 4.36 percent with an average 0.6 points, the 15-year, fixed-rate average also declined, dropping from the previous week's average of 4.46 percent. A year ago, 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.78 percent, the report said.

"Low mortgage rates are helping to stabilize home sales. New home sales in August rose to the highest annualized pace since September 2008 and the inventory of unsold houses fell to the lowest level since February 1983," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.