Mortgage Rates Fall Again - The Wall Street Journal 10-09-2009

Mortgage Rates Fall Again
The Wall Street Journal
October 9, 2009

WASHINGTON -- Mortgage rates fell this week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages retreating deeper below 5% and several others reaching lows, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey.

After yields on Treasurys rebounded from the multidecade lows hit earlier this year, they have since retraced, pulling down mortgage rates with them.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.87% for the week ended Thursday, the lowest since May. It compares with last week's 4.94% average and 5.94% a year ago.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 4.33%, down from 4.36% last week and 5.63% a year earlier. The latest figure is the lowest since Freddie began tracking such loans in 1991.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.35%, down from last week's 4.42% and 5.9% a year earlier. Those loans haven't had such low average rates in the four years Freddie has kept such data. The average rate on one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs rose to 4.53% from 4.49%. The prior-year average was 5.15%.

The falling rates also are spurring increased refinancing activity, which reached a 19-week high last week.