Long-Term Mortgage RatesFall

McLEAN, Va. - (09/17/04) -- Mortgage rates dipped slightly thisweek, after rising last week, according to Freddie Mac. The averagefor the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan fell to 5.75% this week,from 5.83% last week; while the average for the 15-year, fixed-ratemortgage decreased to 5.13%, from 5.22%. The average for theone-year ARM rose slightly to 4.03%, from 4% last week. The fall inlong-term rates comes as the Federal Reserve is widely expected toboost short-term interest rates next week by one-quarter percentagepoint to 1.75 percent, which would mark its third rate increasethis year. But Freddie Mac's chief economist, Frank Nothaft, saidhe didn't see such an increase as "having a significant impact onlong-term mortgage rates.''