Mortgage Rates Dip to 17-Month Low

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to its lowest level since early last year. The average declined to 7.36%, down from 7.43% a week earlier, Freddie Mac said. It was the lowest since the week ended Feb. 22, 1996, when the rate averaged 7.32%. It has been declining since as Wall Street traders have become increasingly confident there’s little immediate prospect of accelerating inflation. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 6.90% this week, down from 6.98% a week earlier and the lowest since the week ended March 7, 1996. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.49% this week, down from 5.54% last week and the lowest in five months. The rates do not include points.