Mortgage rates drop as oil eases
Freddie Mac says 30-year fixed rate fell to 6.52% as the price of oil and gasoline fell this week.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Mortgage rates fell slightly this week according to a weekly report released Wednesday, as lower oil prices briefly ease fears of price inflation.
The Primary Mortgage Market Survey from mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said that rates of 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) averaged 6.52% for the week ended July 31 with an average 0.7 point discount, down from an average 6.63% last week, and down from an average of 6.68% recorded during the same week last year.
The 15-year FRM averaged 6.07% this week with an average of 0.6 point, down from 6.18% last week, and down from 6.32% last year.
A point, or "discount point," can be purchased at the time of closing to decrease the mortgage rate. Each point costs 1% of the loan amount and each point that a borrower purchases lowers the the loan interest rate.
Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.07% this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.16%. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.29%.
One-year ARMs averaged 5.27% this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it was 5.49%. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.59%.
"Mortgage rates moved lower this week as a drop in commodity prices eased market concerns over inflation pressures," said Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft in a statement.
The price of gasoline at the pump continued to fall below $4 a gallon as crude oil prices have fallen nearly $23 a barrel over the past several weeks from its peak of $147.27 on July 11.
"Yes, there is some influence in hope for less inflation pressure, but we'd need a more extended period of these softening prices" to see a significant decline, said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSHAssociates.com, an online publisher of consumer loan information. 
