Mortgage rates ease slightly

Rates on most mortgages eligible for purchase or guarantee by Freddie Mac fell slightly this week, remaining well below 5 percent for borrowers with good credit and sizeable down payments.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.82 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending April 16, 2009, down from 4.87 percent last week and 5.88 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing results of its weekly rate survey.

The 15-year FRM averaged 4.48 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from 4.54 percent last week and 5.4 percent a year ago. The 15-year FRM is the lowest it's been since Freddie Mac began tracking it in August 1991.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.88 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from 4.93 percent last week and 5.48 percent a year ago. Rates on 5-year ARMs have not been lower since Freddie Mac began tracking them in January 2005.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.91 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, up from 4.83 percent last week but down from 5.1 percent a year ago.

Those rates were for mortgages eligible for purchase or guarantee by Freddie Mac. Borrowers taking out loans too large or risky for Freddie Mac, or providing down payments less than 20 percent, can expect to pay more.

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