Fixed Mortgage Rates Edge Downward

The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell slightly this week to 7.16%, Freddie Mac said. The decline, from a four-month high of 7.19%, still left the average well above the four-year low of 6.89% it reached in mid-January. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 6.78% this week, down from 6.80% last week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.70%, the same as last week and the highest in nine months. The rates do not include add-on fees known as points.