Bankrate.com, which provides a weekly national survey of lenders, says mortgage rates have dropped dramatically in the past two weeks.
According to the agency’s latest weekly survey, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 6.74-percent, while the average 15-year rate fixed mortgage and the jumbo 30-year fixed rate dipped to 6.40-percent and 6.96-percent, respectively. In addition, on adjustable-rate mortgages, the average 5/1 ARM sunk to 6.47-percent, while the one-year ARM increased to 6.23-percent.
In a press release, Bankrate attributed the declines to “nervousness about deteriorating conditions in the subprime market,” which have sparked a “flight to quality.”