Rates Drift Lower

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.69% to 6.67% for the seven-day period ended June 28, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.37% to 6.34%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages declined from 6.31% to 6.30%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs fell from 5.66% to 5.65%, Freddie Mac reported. Fees and points averaged 0.4 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.5 of a point for ARMs. "Mortgage rates edged down slightly for the second week in a row after having risen over the previous month and a half, and as financial markets prepared for the June 28th Federal Open Market Committee's announcement on monetary policy," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "This week we saw further effects of the current housing recession. May's existing-home sales (including condominiums and co-ops) fell 0.3% to the slowest pace since June 2003, and the number of months houses were available for sale rose to 8.9, the longest since June 1992." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.78% and 6.43%, respectively, and the average hybrid and one-year ARM rates were 6.39% and 5.82%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.