U.S. mortgage rates slide in week

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Average U.S. mortgage rates declined in the week ending Thursday, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said.

In the week ending Oct. 3, average interest rates on 30-year fixed rate loans eased back to 4.22 percent with 0.7 point, down from the previous week's 4.32 percent, Freddie Mac said.

A year ago at this time, rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans averaged 3.36 percent.

Rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged dropped from 3.37 percent to 3.29 percent with an average 0.7 point in the week. A year ago in the same week, 15-year fixed-rate loans averaged 2.69 percent.

Rates for 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.03 percent this week with an average 0.6 point. Last week, rates for these loans averaged 3.07 percent. A year ago, they averaged 2.72 percent.

Rates for 1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate loans averaged 2.63 percent in the week with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from the previous week.

Last year over the same period, rates for 1-year adjustable-rate loans averaged 2.57 percent.

One point is equal to 1 percent of the amount of the loan and is typically paid up front. It includes a corresponding discount on the loan's long-term interest rates.

Interest rates pulled back partly in response to the partial U.S. government shutdown, said Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist Frank Nothaft, noting that a shutdown of a week or more would begin to subtract growth from the country's gross domestic product.