By Michelle Donley
Last update: 10:12 a.m. EDT April 2, 2009Comments: 16
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The national average interest rate on the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 4.78% in the week ending Thursday, setting a new record low dating back to 1971 for the second consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey. That rate is down from last week’s 4.85% and the year-ago 5.88%. The 15-year fixed-rate loan averaged 4.52%, another record low dating back to 1991, down from the week-ago 4.58% and the year-ago 5.42%. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 4.92%, compared with 4.96% a week ago and 5.59% a year ago. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.75% this week, down from last week’s 4.85% and the year-ago 5.19%. “Mortgage rates followed other interest rates lower this week amid reports of slower economic growth,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist
