Mortgage interest rates down again

Most mortgage interest rates hit their lowest-ever levels this week, Freddie Mac reports.

All mortgage products except the five-year adjustable rate mortgage averaged record lows, according to the agency’s weekly survey.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan was 3.4 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from 3.49 last week and 3.01 at this time last year. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also sank to a record low. The average this week was 2.73 percent with an average 0.6 point. Last week it averaged 2.77 percent, and a year ago the average was 3.28 percent.

Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, credited the reductions to the Federal Reserve's purchases of mortgage securities — an action that “should support an already-improving housing market,” he said in a statement.

“Additionally, new home sales in July and August had the strongest two-month pace since March and April 2010,” he went on to say.

Home sales were mixed on Long Island during the same time periods, but trended upward year over year, according to data provided by the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. Month-to-month sales in Nassau dipped 1.06 percent from June to July, but rose 12.9 percent from July to August. Nassau home sales have shown a year-over-year increase every month since April.

In Suffolk, sales improved 2.4 percent from June to July and 7.8 percent from July to August. Year over year, Suffolk home sales have shown an increase every month since March.