30-Year Mortgage Rates Drop to 5.71%

Rates on 30-year mortgages declined for a third consecutive week as bond investors worried that Hurricane Katrina and soaring energy prices would slow the economy.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to a nationwide average of 5.71% this week, down from last week’s 5.77%.

Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.32% this week, down from 5.35% last week. One-year adjustable rate mortgages edged down slightly to 4.48% from 4.56%.

Rates on five-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.30% this week, unchanged from last week.

The nationwide averages for mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Both the five-year and 30-year mortgages carried an average fee of 0.6 point this week. The 15-year mortgage carried an average fee of 0.5 point while the one-year adjustable-rate mortgage had an average fee of 0.7 point.