BANKING & FINANCE - Sept. 13, 1996

Mortgage Rates Dip: Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.28% this week, down from 8.34% last week, according to a national survey released by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. This week’s rate was the lowest since Aug. 29, when rates averaged 8.09%. Rates had edged up to 8.34% on Sept. 5, the highest since they reached 8.42% in early July. On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.90% this week, up from 5.85% last week. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 7.81% this week, down from 7.88% a week earlier.