NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Long-term mortgage rates fell for the seventh consecutive week, setting yet another new low, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday.

This is the ninth time this year that mortgage rates have hit lows.

Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.99 percent in the week ending Sept. 27, with an average of 0.6 point payable up front to the lender. The rate fell from an average 6.05 percent last week and remained lower than its 6.72 percent average a year ago.

The average 30-year mortgage rate is the lowest it has been since 1971, when Freddie Mac began tracking it.

The 15-year fixed rate mortgage, meanwhile, fell to 5.41 percent from 5.47 percent last week, and averaged 0.6 point payable to the lender. A year ago it averaged 6.23 percent. The 15-year is at its lowest level since the company began tracking it in 1991.

The 1-year adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) also fell to is lowest level since Feb. 18, 1994. It averaged 4.22 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point payable to the lender. That's down from last week's average of 4.28 percent and below its 5.45 percent average recorded a year ago.

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"The possibility that consumer spending will slow, given the current weakening level of consumer confidence, created an uneasy atmosphere in the financial markets," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. "Combined with the growing possibility of a war with Iraq, new money flowed into the bond market, driving down yields and other interest rates. Mortgage rates were no exception."

Freddie Mac (FRE: up $0.09 to $55.90, Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., is a publicly traded company that 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.