Freddie Mac: Mortgage Rates Drop Again, Now at 1951 Levels

The latest Freddie Mac survey of lender offering rates reported that mortgage interest rates continue their decline, with the 30-year fixed-rate loan dropping to an average of 4.19% from 4.27% a week earlier, reported the survey on October 14. Fifteen-year fixed-rate loans fell from 3.72% to 3.62%. The rates were being offered to low-risk borrowers who paid 0.8% of the loan amount in upfront lender fees on the 30-year loan and 0.7% on the 15-year mortgage. The last time average rates on popular long-term fixed-rate mortgages were this low was April 1951. Most of the long-term mortgages back then were for 20 or 25 years, however. Applications for refinance jumped 21% last week to the strongest pace since mid-April 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Assn.