Mortgage Rates Fall to Six-Month Low

Thirty-year mortgage rates fell this week to their lowest level in six months, Freddie Mac said. The average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 6.91%. That was down from 6.98% the week before and is the lowest level since rates hit a four-year low of 6.89% in mid-January. Mortgage rates hit a 1998 high of 7.22% in late April, but have been headed down since then. Rates for 15-year mortgages, a popular refinancing option, averaged 6.60% this week, their lowest since February and down from 6.65% last week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.60%, also the lowest since February and down from 5.66% last week. The low rates have been a boon to the housing industry. Sales of new, single-family homes in May climbed to an annual rate of 890,000, the highest level since the government began tracking them in 1963.