FHLBB SAYS MORTGAGE RATES CONTINUE DECLINE
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board said
home mortgage rates fell from early February to early March to
their lowest point in nine years, but the rate of decline was
slower than it had been in recent months.
    The bank board said the average effective commitment rate
for fixed-rate mortgages for single family homes and a 25 pct
loan-to-price ratio with a maturity of at least 15 years was
9.48 pct in early March.
    The rate was four basis points lower than a month ago, only
one-eighth the size of decline in the previous month, the bank
board said.
    Rates for adjustable-rate mortgages decline eight basis
points from early February to 8.43 pct in early March, the bank
board said. The drop was far less than the 15 basis point
decline in the previous period, the agency said.
    The average effective interest rate on all loans closed by
major mortgage lenders declined nine basis points from early
February to early March, the agency said. The fall brought the
rate to 9.14 pct was the lowest since December 1977, it said.
    The effective rate for ARMS was 8.39 pct, 15 basis points
below a month earlier. For fixed-rate loans it was 9.36 pct, 14
basis points below a month earlier, the agency said.
 Reuter
