BANKING & FINANCE - July 17, 1993

Mortgage Rates Hit New Lows: Interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 7.16%, down from 7.19% a week earlier. It marked the fifth consecutive decline and the lowest rate since the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. began calculating a weekly average in April, 1971. The rate hit 7.52% eight weeks ago, but resumed falling again with government reports showing inflation quieted in May and June. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 4.53%, down from 4.56% last week and the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking ARM rates in 1984.