Mortgage rates fall slightly

Rates for 30-year home loans inched downward this week, but still remain above record lows posted during the spring, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.32 this week, below last week's average of 5.42 percent. Last year at this time, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.35 percent, Freddie Mac said.

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record low of 4.78 percent earlier this year. But then they rose as high as 5.6 percent in June after yields on long-term government debt, which are closely tied to mortgages rates, climbed as investors worried that the huge surplus of government debt hitting the market could trigger inflation.

Since then, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has fallen back from an 8-month high of 4.01 percent reached in June to 3.51 percent Thursday.

"Lower mortgage rates are helping to support the housing market," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.

Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.77 percent, down from 4.87 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.88 percent, down from 4.99 percent last week. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages rose slightly to 4.94 percent from 4.93 percent.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee for the loans in Freddie Mac's survey averaged 0.7 point except the one-year, adjustable-rate mortgage, which averaged 0.6 point.