Mortgage rates remain below 5%

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Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of home loans is out today with more good news – rates remain under 5%, and have fallen a tad from the previous week.

The typical interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.82% for the week, down from 4.87% last week. Points and fees charged by lenders dropped from an average 0.7% of the loan amount to 0.6%, Freddie Mac said.

Driven down by aggressive actions at the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department, the rates dipped below 5% last month and bottomed out at 4.78% during the week that ended April 2. Last year at this time, a 30-year fixed rate loan averaged 5.88%, according to Freddie Mac.

Rates on 15-year fixed loans this week averaged 4.48% with 0.6% in average lender charges.

The survey looks at borrowers who can qualify for the loans that Freddie Mac will buy or guarantee. Among other things, that means borrowers of more than $729,750 in Los Angeles and Orange County are out of luck.

-- E. Scott Reckard