Mortgage rates fell the week that ended Thursday, with the third straight decline pushing the average for 30-year fixed loans back below 5%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey.
Treasury yields have declined recently, and mortgage rates tend to follow the yields.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.99% for the week that ended Thursday, down from last week's 5.06% average and 5.12% a year ago. To obtain the rate required payment of an average 0.7 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
