Mortgage Rates Continue String of Declines

Freddie Mac reports a drop in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 6.52 percent during the week ended Aug. 17, marking the fourth-straight decline.

Rates are still 72 basis points higher than a year ago. A basis point is 0.01 of a percent. Five-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, which carry fixed rates for the first 5 years and then float, fell 3 basis points to 6.18 percent.

One-year ARMs declined 4 basis points to 5.65 percent. The 10-year Treasury yield, the benchmark for mortgage rates, has fallen as well due to data that shows moderate inflation and weakness in the economy.

Source: Investor's Business Daily (08/18/06)