Fixed Rates Dip

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.21% for the week ending July 2 from 6.25% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.64% to 5.62%, while the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs rose from 4.13% to 4.19%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.7 of a point for ARMs. "As expected, long-term mortgage rates were relatively unaffected by the Fed's recent actions to pre-empt any future inflationary trend," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "And, as also expected, short-term mortgage rates moved upward in response to those same actions." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.24% and 4.63%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.45%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.