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Mortgage rates dip further
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October 4, 2001: 2:01 p.m. ET
Long-term rate flirts with record low; 2001 average to be lowest in decades
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The 15-year fixed-rate mortgages hit their lowest level on record, while 30-year rates recorded their lowest rates since 1998, according to Freddie Mac.
And the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.64 percent, with an average 0.8 point, for the week ending Oct. 5, down from 6.72 percent last week, down from 6.72 percent last week, Freddie Mac said.
The long-term rate has not been this low since the week ending Oct. 9, 1998, when it averaged 6.49 percent.
A year ago period, 30-year rates averaged 7.83 percent.
The 15-year fixed rate mortgage this week averaged 6.11 percent, with an average 0.8 point, down from last week's average of 6.23 percent. The same mortgage stood at 7.50 percent during the same period last year.
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At the same time, one-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) indexed to the Treasury averaged 5.34 percent this week, with an average 0.9 point. That rate is down slightly from last week's average of 5.45 percent. One-year ARMs averaged 7.21 percent last year.
The one-year ARM has not been this low since the week ending Feb. 16, 1996, when it averaged 5.19 percent.
"Nearly every sector of industry is affected by the slow economy," said Freddie Mac chief economist Robert Van Order. "This week's rates are among the lowest in a generation, and should keep the housing industry active into the long winter months."
Van Order added that if the rates remain at this low level for the remainder of the year, the annual average interest rate for 2001 will be the lowest in the 30 years that Freddie Mac has been surveying mortgage rates.
[Click here for a breakdown of U.S. mortgage rates by region]
Freddie Mac (FRE: up $0.51 to $68.27, Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Mortgage Corp., is a publicly traded company the government established in 1970 to provide a flow of funds to mortgage lenders.
It buys mortgages from banks, bundles them and then resells them as mortgage-backed securities. Its products, and the products of other similar entities, have become increasingly popular as an alternative to government-backed bonds, particularly with international investors. 
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