Mortgage Rates Ease Downward

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages edged down to 7.96% for the week ending today, from 7.99% reached the previous week, Freddie Mac said. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, dipped to an average 7.67% this week from 7.72% last week. One-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged an initial rate of 7.27%, down from 7.37% last week. For the same period last year, one-year ARMS averaged 6.18%. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points, which averaged 1% of the loan amount for all three types of mortgages.