Rates Decline

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate declined to 7.13% for the week ending April 5 from 7.18% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.69% to 6.64%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages decreased from 5.11% to 4.99%, Freddie Mac said. Fees and points averaged 0.7 points for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.8 points for ARMs. "Currently the market is relatively stable while it looks to see if there are any remaining weak spots in the economy, and if so, what those spots might be," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "But, at the moment, there seems to be nothing that would indicate anything that might seriously disrupt the market and cause mortgage rates to rise appreciably." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 7.01% and 6.54%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 6.23%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found on the Web at http://www.freddiemac.com.