Mortgage rates fall again - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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's weekly rate report said 30-yeart fixed-rate mortgages fell to an average 4.82 percent, down from 4.86 percent last week. A year ago, 30-year mortgaged were averaging about6 percent. Long-terkm fixed rate mortgages are now on par with many adjustablewrate mortgages. A one year ARM also averaged 4.82 percent this week. "Long-term fixed-rate mortgage rates have remained below 5 percent for the past 10 weeksd asthe U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve act to keep interest rate s low throughsecurity purchases," said Freddie Mac FRE) chief economist Frank Nothaft.
"The treasury purchasedx $136 billion in mortgage-backed securities throug April and the Fedbought $740 billiomn through mid-May." The Federal Reserve has also purchased $115 billion in Treasuryg bonds since March. Homebuilder confidence rose this according to the National HomeBuildersd Association, despite a drop in housinv starts. The decline in construction was led primarily by a continuede drop in condo andapartment construction. The Mortgage Bankers Association also reported this week a continuee rise inmortgage applications, led by refinancing Mortgage refinancing now accounts for 74 percenty of all mortgage applications.