Mortgage rates fell again this week as investors grew more concerned about slow economic growth.
The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points this week, to 4.65 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.39 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index was 4.88 percent; four weeks ago, it was 4.82 percent. The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 9 basis points, to 3.79 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points, to 3.35 percent. The 30-year fixed rate has declined for nine weeks in a row and has not been this low since November, according to Bankrate's survey. Some mortgage experts had not expected another dip in rates this week, but their expectations quickly changed after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a gloomy assessment of the U.S. economy during a speech Tuesday.