US mortgage rates drop in week

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said average U.S. 30-year fixed loan mortgage rates fell from 4.28 percent to 4.13 percent with 0.8 point in the past week. Freddie Mac Vice President and Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said rates fell "as the partial government shutdown led to market speculation that the Federal Reserve will not alter its bond purchases this year." "The weak employment report for September added to this expectation," he said. "The economy added just 148,000 jobs, which was below the market consensus forecast and less than the 193,000 jobs increase in August." A year ago at this time, rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans averaged 3.41 percent. Rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell from 3.33 percent to 3.24 percent with an average 0.6 point in the week. A year ago in the same week, 15-year fixed-rate loans averaged 2.72 percent. Rates for 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3 percent this week with an average 0.4 point. Last week, rates for these loans averaged 3.07 percent with 0.6 point. A year ago, they averaged 2.75 percent. Rates for 1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate loans averaged 2.60 percent in the week with an average 0.5 point, down from 2.63 in the previous week, Freddie Mac said. Last year over the same period, rates for 1-year adjustable-rate loans averaged 2.59 percent. One point is equal to 1 percent of the amount of the loan and is typically paid up front. It includes a corresponding discount on the loan's long-term interest rates.