Mortgages
Rate: 5.22 percent (30-year fixed) Average Points: 0.34Mortgage rates fell for the sixth consecutive week.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped 3 basis points, to 5.22 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. The rate continues to sink nearer to the all-time low recorded in Bankrate's weekly survey -- 5.13 percent from April 1.
Meanwhile, this week's average 15-year fixed-rate -- a popular option for refinancing -- sank 4 basis points, to 4.6 percent.
The average jumbo 30-year fixed rose 4 basis points, to 6.51 percent.
Adjustable-rate mortgages were split. The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose 3 basis points, to 5.24 percent. Meanwhile, the popular 5/1 ARM fell 3 basis points, to 4.66 percent.
Mortgage applications jumped a seasonally adjusted 16.4 percent when compared to a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
For the week ending Oct. 2, applications for new purchase soared 13.2 percent and are now at their highest levels since January. Refinancing activity also shot higher, up 18.2 percent.
In other mortgage news, pending home sales during August were up for the seventh straight month, the longest such streak since the National Association of Realtors began tracking such activity. Pending sales rose 6.4 percent when compared to July, and the NAR index now is at its highest level since March 2007.
Monthly index readings increased 16 percent in the West, 8.2 percent in the Northeast, 3.1 percent in the Midwest and 0.8 percent in the South.
To find and compare mortgage rates in your area, visit Bankrate's interactive search tool.
-- Chris Kissell