Mortgage rates hit new lows with 15-year fixed at 2.97%

Mortgage rates fell to another new low in the week ended May 31, with fixed rates on 15-year mortgages cracking the 3 percent mark, according to Freddie Mac.

Rates on 30-year fixed loans were 3.75 percent, down from 3.78 percent a week earlier and 4.55 at this time last year. This is the fifth straight week of declines.

The 15-year loan dipped to 2.97 percent, from 3.04 percent last week and 3.47 percent last year.

“Market concerns over tensions in the Eurozone led to a decline in long-term Treasury bond yields helping to bring fixed mortgage rates to new record lows this week,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac, said in a statement. “Compared to a year ago, rates on 30-year fixed mortgage rates are almost 0.9 percentage points lower which translates into nearly $1,200 less in annual payments on a $200,000 loan.”