Mortgage rates fell for the second straight week.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped 5 basis points, to 6.48 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. This is the first time since March the 30-year fixed has fallen in consecutive weeks.

The average 15-year fixed -- a popular option for refinancing -- sank 8 basis points, to 6.01 percent. The average jumbo 30-year fixed fell 5 basis points, to 7.64 percent.

The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage dropped 11 basis points, to 6.17 percent. The popular 5/1 ARM slid 4 basis points, to 6.05 percent.

Mortgage applications rose for only the second time in the past seven weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. For the week ending July 4, applications rose a seasonally adjusted 7.5 percent when compared with one week earlier.

Refinancing grew by 8.7 percent while applications for new purchases increased by 6.7 percent.

It was another week of grim news on the housing front. Pending sales for existing homes slipped 4.7 percent in May, according to the National Association of Realtors. The news was especially disappointing because the index had shown an unexpected increase in April.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said many of today's looming foreclosures are the result of "untenable financial decisions" and "are not preventable." Paulson made the comments at a forum on mortgage lending in Arlington, Va.

-- Chris Kissell

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