Mortgage rates continue slide to near record lows

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Friday, September 18th 2009, 4:00 AM

Related NewsStudy shows fewer foreclosures in city for the condo over the co-op Rates for 30-year home loans edged down for the third straight week and are close to record lows reached in the spring. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.04%, down from 5.07% last week, mortgage company Freddie Mac said on Thursday. While higher than the record low of 4.78% hit earlier this year, rates are still considered very attractive for people looking to buy a home or refinance. The latest rates are the lowest weekly average since the week of May 28, when they averaged 4.91%. When mortgage rates plunged in the spring, applications to buy homes rose as much as twice current levels, based on Mortgage Bankers Association weekly figures. Requests for refinancings were at least double. It could take a push through those record low mortgage rates, as well as renewed confidence about employment, to fuel a repeat wave of such heavy purchase and refinance applications, economists said.