Dow Jones Newswires

12:05 p.m. CDT, November 3, 2011

Mortgage rates in the U.S. declined sharply in the past week as investors rushed to buy Treasurys amid rising fears over the European debt market, according to Freddie Mac‘s weekly survey of mortgage rates.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4 percent for the week ended Thursday, down from 4.1 percent the previous week and 4.24 percent a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.31 percent, down from 3.38 percent a week earlier and 3.63 percent recorded a year ago.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 2.96 percent, down from 3.08 percent last week and 3.39 percent a year ago. One-year Treasury-indexed ARM rates averaged 2.88 percent, down from 2.9 percent in the prior week and 3.26 percent last year.

To obtain the rates, 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages required an 0.7-point payment. Five-year and one-year adjustable rate mortgages required an average 0.6-point payment. A point is 1 percent of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.