From News Services and Staff Reports
Saturday, October 7, 2006

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down this week to a seven-month low.

Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.30 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent last week. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Rates have been headed lower for more than two months as financial markets have become convinced that a slowing economy will help ease inflation pressures and that will keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates further.

The drop in mortgages has spurred a rebound in mortgage applications, driven in part by homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages who want to refinance to a fixed rate before their current mortgages reset to a higher monthly payment.

"Home refinancing rose 18 percent last week, accounting for almost half of all mortgage applications," said Frank E. Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, were unchanged at 5.98 percent.

Rates on one-year adjustable rate mortgages dipped to 5.46 percent, down from 5.47 percent last week.

Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were unchanged at 6 percent.

The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. For a 30-year mortgage, the nationwide average fee was 0.3 point while the 15-year mortgage carried a fee of 0.4 point. The one-year ARM had a nationwide average fee of 0.7 point and the five-year ARM carried a fee of 0.5 point.

A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 5.98 percent, 15-year mortgages stood at 5.54 percent, one-year ARMs were at 4.77 percent and the five-year ARMs were at 5.48 percent.

HOME TOURS . . . Northern Virginia custom home builders, renovators and remodelers are holding a Parade of Homes today and tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 32 homes around the region. Visitors are asked to donate $10 at the first home they visit to benefit HomeAid Northern Virginia; they will receive a ticket for entry to all the homes. For maps and more information, see http://www.vaparade.com/ . . . . HISTORY . . . On Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the D.C. Preservation League is sponsoring a seminar on researching house histories. It will be held in the Washingtoniana Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Ninth and G streets NW. Admission is free. . . . On Oct. 14, the Preservation League is sponsoring a bus tour of rowhouses built by Harry Wardman . Tour begins at 10 a.m. at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Admission is $35 for league members and $55 for nonmembers. For information, see http://www.dcpreservation.org/ or call 202-783-5144. . . . AWARDS . . . The Home Builders Care Foundation , which is affiliated with the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, received the 2006 Volunteer Service Award from the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes in recognition of donations of labor and materials to make improvements on two group homes in Montgomery County.

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