US 30-year mortgage rates fall in latest week

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. 30-year mortgage rates eased slightly in the week ended May 8, home funding company Freddie Mac (FRE.N) said on Thursday.

Thirty-year mortgage rates dropped to an average of 6.05 percent from 6.06 percent last week, as 15-year mortgages rose to an average of 5.60 percent from 5.59 percent the prior week, Freddie Mac said.

One-year adjustable rate mortgages, or ARMs, were unchanged at an average of 5.29 percent.

Freddie Mac said the "5/1" ARM, set at a fixed rate for five years and adjustable each following year, averaged 5.67 percent, down from 5.73 percent a week earlier.

A year ago, 30-year mortgage rates averaged 6.15 percent, 15-year mortgages 5.87 percent and the one-year ARM 5.48 percent. The 5/1 ARM averaged 5.89 percent.

"Despite a weak housing market, mortgage rates remained almost unchanged this week based on better-than-expected economic data releases that indicated the economy still has some staying power," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.

Lenders charged an average of 0.3 percent in fees and points on 30- and 15-year mortgages, both down from 0.5 percent last week.

They charged 0.5 percent on the 5/1 ARM, unchanged from a week earlier.

Fees and points charged on the one-year ARM averaged 0.6 percent, also unchanged from a week earlier.

Freddie Mac is a mortgage finance company chartered by Congress that buys mortgages from lenders and packages them into securities to sell to investors or to hold in its own portfolio. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)