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Mortgages dip with market
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September 3, 1998: 3:10 p.m. ET
The 30-year fixed rate mortgage at lowest point since October 1993
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Mortgage interest rates fell significantly this week in the wake of the Wall Street's Monday plummet, mortgage firm Freddie Mac said Thursday.
For the week ending Sept. 4, the rate on U.S. 30-year fixed mortgages dipped to an average 6.82 points from last week's 6.92 percent. Fifteen-year loans also were down at an average 6.51 percent from 6.61 percent the week before.
One-year adjustable rate mortgages, too, came in lower at an average 5.51 percent from last week's 5.58 percent.
The 30-year rate has not been this low since the week ending Oct. 22, 1993, when it averaged 6.74 percent, and the 15-year rate has not been lower since the week ending Feb. 16, 1996, when it averaged 6.44 percent.
A year ago, the 30-year rate averaged 7.53 percent, the 15-year 7.08 percent and the one-year adjustable 5.58 percent.
"Mortgage rates followed the market down this week to exceptionally low levels," Freddie Mac chief economist Robert Van Order said. "This has served to prolong an already incredibly lengthy housing boom, and although we saw new homes sales decline recently, the level of sales is still very high."
On Monday the Commerce Department said U.S. July single-family home sales fell 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 886,000 units.
"There will be a gradual slowdown toward the end of the year, but the housing market will remain robust for some time to come," Van Order said.
Freddie Mac said lenders charged an average 1.0 percent in fees and points on 30- and 15-year mortgages, down from 1.1 percent last week. They charged 1.1 percent on the adjustable-rate mortgage, unchanged from the prior week.
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