'Market concerns' take mortgage rates lower

Worries over slower economic growth helped push mortgage rates lower this week, Freddie Mac reported today in its latest survey.

According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sank to an average 6.33 percent from last week's 6.4 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate dropped to an average 5.99 percent from 6.08 percent. Points, which are fees lenders charge for loan processing expressed as a percent of the loan, averaged 0.5 and 0.6, respectively, on the 30- and 15-year loans.

Average rates on adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) also declined this week, with the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM falling to an average 6.03 percent from 6.11 percent and the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM sinking to an average 5.66 percent from 5.76 percent. Points on the five-year and one-year loans averaged 0.5 and 0.6, respectively.

"Market concerns about slower economic growth over the next few months allowed mortgage rates to drift lower from last week," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. "How much of a drag the housing slump will be on the economy remains unknown."

Nothaft said that contributing to the concerns are "recent reports that suggest some regional manufacturing weakness in October," and Wednesday's news that "sales of existing single-family homes in September dropped to the slowest pace in nearly a decade -- since January 1998 -- reflecting the effects of the credit tightening that occurred in August."

The following is a sampling of Bankrate.com's average 30-year-mortgage interest rates this week in some U.S. metropolitan areas:

New York - 6.38 percent with 0.16 point

Los Angeles - 6.38 percent with 0.55 point

Chicago - 6.38 percent with 0.19 point

San Francisco - 6.26 percent with 0.56 point

Philadelphia - 6.4 percent with 0.13 point

Detroit - 6.39 percent with 0.01 point

Boston - 6.37 percent with 0.03 point

Houston - 6.14 percent with 0.81 point

Dallas - 6.25 percent with 0.47 point

Washington, D.C. - 6.21 percent with 0.53 point

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