Freddie Mac says average rates for 30-year mortgages fall to 4.72 pct., just above record low

Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates hit low for year

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell this week to the lowest level of the year and were barely shy of the all-time low.

Mortgage finance company Freddie Mac says the average rate sank to 4.72 percent, down from 4.79 percent last week. It was just above the record of 4.71 set last December.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage hit a record low of 4.17 percent, down from 4.2 percent last week.

Mortgage rates have fallen over the past two months. Investors, wary of the European debt crisis and the turbulent stock market, have shifted money into the safety of U.S. Treasury bonds. Mortgage rates tend to track the yield on U.S. Treasury debt.