Average 30-Year Rate Slips Below 6%

The average weekly rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.97% during the week ending Nov. 26 from 6.04% the week previous in a move Freddie Mac attributed to recent statistics signaling economic decline. "Signs the overall economy is flagging lowered most interest rates marketwide," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, noting that "economic growth in the third quarter was revised downward this week, led by the first decline in consumer spending since the fourth quarter of 1991 and the largest drop since the second quarter of 1980." In addition to falling week over week, the average rate for a 30-year FRM was down from the same period last year, when it was 6.10%. The average rate on the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage, at 5.86%, inched down to 5.86% from 5.87% but was the same as it was the year previous; while the average rate on the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM, at 5.18%, fell from 5.29% the previous week and 5.43% the year before. However, the average rate for a 15-year FRM, at 5.74%, was slightly up from the previous week and the previous year when it was 5.73%, in both cases. Points averaged 0.7 for 30- and 15-year FRMs, 0.6 for five-year hybrids and 0.5 for one-year ARMs.