NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Mortgage rates ended two consecutive weeks of gains in dramatic fashion as the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage saw its largest decline in nine months.

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year loan averaged 6.13 percent for the week ended Nov. 1, with an average 0.6 of a point payable up front to the lender. The rate tumbled from an average 6.31 percent last week and remained below its 6.56 percent average a year ago.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.51 percent, down from 5.70 percent last week and down from 6.04 percent last year. The 15-year mortgage averaged 0.6 of a point payable up front to the lender.

One-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), loosely indexed to the 10-year Treasury note, averaged 4.25 percent with an average 0.6 of a point due up front, below last week's 4.30 percent average. A year ago, the one-year ARM averaged 5.26 percent.

"As a reflection primarily of low rates, new and existing home sales for September were stronger than had been expected," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "With mortgage rates falling this week from already affordable levels, interest in homebuying will remain strong coming into and through the holiday season."

"Presently, all eyes are focused on next week's meeting of the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee]. What the Fed decides and what it says at that time will surely have an impact on the future direction of mortgage rates," Nothaft added.

Freddie Mac's average mortgage rates are based on a survey of 125 lenders nationwide. The rates include those on mortgages accepted by borrowers with good credit ratings who place a 20 percent down payment on their homes, according to Freddie Mac. The total amount of each mortgage considered for the survey doesn't exceed a $300,700 limit.

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Freddie Mac (FRE: down $0.25 to $61.75, Research, Estimates), or Federal Home Loan 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.