30-year mortgage rates fall below 6%

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages fell below 6 percent this week, recording the first decline in three weeks.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported yesterday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.94 percent this week, down from 6.10 percent last week. It marked the first decline since rates fell on Sept. 18 to 5.78 percent, a seven-month low.

Financial markets have been turbulent in recent weeks as investors have flocked to the safety of Treasuries, sending yields down sharply while rates on other types of corporate bonds have been pushed higher by growing concerns about whether the bonds will be repaid.

Those crosscurrents have been reflected in mortgage rates, which also have been on a rollercoaster, hitting a high for the year of 6.63 percent in late July and then dropping below 6 percent in mid-September.

According to the Freddie Mac survey, rates on all types of mortgages were lower this week.

Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, which are popular with people who are refinancing, dropped to 5.63 percent, compared with 5.78 percent last week.

Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 5.90 percent from 6.00 percent last week. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages edged down slightly to 5.15 percent, compared with 5.16 percent last week.

The mortgage rates do not include fees known as points. The nationwide fee for 30-year, 15-year, five-year, and one-year mortgages all averaged 0.6 point.

A year ago, the nationwide average rate on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.40 percent, 15-year mortgage rates averaged 6.06 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 6.12 percent, and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages stood at 5.73 percent.