Mortgage rate lows getting a bit routine

WASHINGTON, July 5 (UPI) -- New lows for 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan interest rates have become a bit routine, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.

Average rates for 30-year contracts have dropped to a new low in 10 of the past 11 weeks, the mortgage brokerage bank said.

In the week ending Thursday, 30-year, fixed-rate interest rates averaged 3.62 percent, down from 3.66 percent, with 0.8 points, Freddie Mac said. Thirty-year mortgage rates averaged 4.6 percent the same week of 2011.

Average rates on 15-year contracts dropped from 2.94 percent to a record 2.89 percent with 0.7 points. A year earlier, rates on 15-year contracts stood at 3.75 percent.

Five-year adjustable rate mortgages averaged 2.79 percent in the week with an average 0.6 points, unchanged from the previous week. A year earlier, five-year adjustable rate loans averaged 3.3 percent.

Average rates on one-year treasury-indexed adjustable mortgages dropped from 2.74 percent to 2.68 percent with an average 0.5 points during the week.

Interest rates for one-year loans averaged 3.01 percent in the same week of 2011.