Long-term mortgage rates at record lows

WASHINGTON, May 31 (UPI) -- Average mortgage rates for 30-year, fixed-rate loans fell to record lows for the fifth consecutive week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.

Average rates for 30-year contracts dropped from 3.78 percent to 3.75 percent with 0.8 points, a record low. Thirty-year mortgage rates averaged 4.55 percent the same week of 2011.

Average rates on 15-year contracts hit a record low of 2.97 percent with 0.7 points, down from 3.04 percent a week ago, Freddie Mac said.

A year earlier, rates on 15-year contracts stood at 3.74 percent.

Five-year adjustable rate mortgages averaged 2.84 percent in the week with an average 0.6 points, up from the previous week, when average rates were at 2.83 percent. Five-year adjustable rate loans averaged 3.41 percent a year earlier.

Average rates on one-year treasury-indexed adjustable mortgages were unchanged in the week at 2.75 percent with 0.4 points. A year ago, rates for these loans averaged 3.13 percent.

Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said "tensions in the eurozone led to a decline in long-term Treasury bond yields, helping to bring fixed mortgage rates to new record lows this week."

Nothaft noted that compared to a year earlier, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages at current rates save homeowners $1,200 in annual payments based on a $200,000 loan.