Mortgage rates lowest in 3 months: Freddie Mac

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages fell to the lowest levels in three months, mortgage giant Freddie Mac (FRE.N) said on Thursday.

Average rates on 30-year mortgages, the benchmark of the industry, dropped to 6.45 percent from 6.52 percent, while those on 15-year mortgages cascaded down to 6.12 percent from 6.18 percent. In the last two weeks, rates on 30-year mortgages have tumbled by 17 basis points and rates on 15-years have dropped by 18 points.

In the same week, rates on non-traditional mortgages rose, with the one-year Adjustable Rate Mortgage spiking to 5.84 percent from 5.60 percent. The "5/1" ARM, set at a fixed rate for five years and adjustable each following year, inched up to 6.35 percent from 6.34 percent.

"The increase in ARM rates is consistent with movement of the yields on short-term Treasury securities, which have exhibited higher volatility recently due to market uncertainties," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

In a statement on Thursday, Freddie Mac said borrowers are seeking traditional fixed-rate mortgages and leaving the adjustable-rate loans that helped inflate the recent housing bubble.

Even though rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages have not been this low since May 30, when they averaged 6.42 percent and 6.12 percent respectively, they still hovered above their year-ago level. At this time last year, 30-years averaged 6.44 and 15-years 6.14 percent. The one-year ARM was at 5.59 percent and the "5/1" was at 6.11 percent.

Freddie Mac said lenders charged an average of 0.5 percent in fees and points on 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages. Last week they charged 0.4 percent on 30-years and 0.5 percent on 15-years. Fees on the "5/1" and the one-year ARM remained at 0.6 percent.

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.