Mortgage Rates Down Slightly: Fixed-rate mortgages averaged...

Mortgage Rates Down Slightly: Fixed-rate mortgages averaged 9.56% this week, down from 9.61% last week, according to a national survey by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. The rate matched the 9.56% level reached Jan. 4, which had been the lowest since a 9.43% rate in mid-April, 1987. Rates peaked in 1990 at 10.67% in early May. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 7.75%, up from 7.69% last week. It was the first increase since ARMs jumped to 7.92% from 7.86% in late December. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.