Mortgage rates drop

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The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.95% this week from 4.97% last week, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The rate reflects what lenders said they were offering to buyers with good credit and a 20% down payment who paid 0.7% of the loan amount in upfront fees and points to the originator of the loan.
The average offering rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, popular as a refinance loan for borrowers wanting to pay off their mortgages faster, was 4.32%, down from 4.33% a week earlier, with 0.7% paid to the originator.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage, which has a fixed rate for five years before becoming variable, averaged 4.05% this week with 0.6% of the loan balance paid to the originator, down from 4.11% last week, Freddie Mac said.
Home-lending professionals say borrowers often can find slightly lower rates by shopping around.
-- E. Scott Reckard