Mortgage Rates Hit Another Record Low

As economic uncertainties continued, mortgage rates inched down even further for the week ending July 1, 2010, ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com/ and ""Bankrate"":http://www.bankrate.com/ reported Thursday.

[IMAGE]

According to Freddie Mac's ""Primary Mortgage Market Survey"":http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/release.html?week=26&year=2010, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.58 percent with an average 0.7 point this week, down from last week's average of 4.69 percent. Freddie Mac also reported a decline in 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, which averaged 4.04 percent with an average 0.7 point, falling from 4.13 percent the week prior.

""Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages . . . fell once again to all-time record lows this week in a period where the economy struggles to gain momentum and inflation

[COLUMN_BREAK]

remains very low,"" said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist.

Bankrate reported the same trend of record-low mortgage rates this week, pointing to rising economic fears as the source for this continued drop.

""Increasing worries about the health of the global economy and concerns over a possible double-dip recession in the U.S. have underscored investors' appetite for the safety of Treasury securities,"" the tracking company said. ""The dour economic outlook and heightened demand for U.S. Treasury debt has kept mortgage rates on a downswing.""

According to Bankrate's ""weekly national survey"":http://investor.bankrate.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=484397, which is conducted from data provided by the top 10 bank and thrifts in the top 10 markets, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.75 percent with an average 0.41 point this week, dropping from 4.81 percent one week ago. Additionally, Bankrate said 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.2 percent with an average 0.4 point this week, down from last week's average of 4.26 percent.

Complementing Bankrate's survey is its weekly Rate Trend Index, in which mortgage experts predict which way rates are headed over the next week. This week, the panelists were divided. While 43 percent said mortgage rates will rebound in the coming week, 38 percent said rates will remain more or less unchanged. The remaining 19 percent said rates will continue to fall.