30-Year Rate Dips

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.72% for the week ending Nov. 26 from 5.74% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate held steady at 5.15%, while the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs rose from 4.17% to 4.27%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.7 of a point for ARMs. "At this time last year, our forecast called for interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to exceed 6% by this time this year," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Today's annual average mortgage rates are below even that projection thanks to the spring 'soft patch' in economic growth." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.83% and 5.17%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.72%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.