WASHINGTON — Mortgage rates have fallen to the lowest level in decades over the past two months and could dip below 4 percent if the economy worsens.
The average rate for 30-year fixed loans fell this week to 4.42 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. It was the eighth time in nine weeks that rates have fallen to the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.
Investors fear the recovery is slowing. The latest sign came Thursday when the government reported a half-million people applied for jobless benefits last week, a nine-month high.
Mortgage rates are following the economic jitters. Rates track the yields on U.S. Treasurys. Those yields have lowered in recent months as more investors put their money into safer Treasurys.
Rates could fall to 4 percent sometime next year if the economy slips back into a recession, said Michael Moskowitz, chief executive of Equity Now, a New York-based mortgage lender with operations in six states.
