Article: Mortgage rates dip below 6 percent spurring surge in loans, refinancings.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox

Jul. 8--Mortgage rates dipped below 6 percent last week to their lowest level in nearly two months, prompting a surge in home-loan and refinance activity, a trade group reported Wednesday.

For the week that ended July 2, the interest rate on a 30-year fixed loan averaged 5.96 percent, its lowest since averaging 5.84 percent for the week that ended April 14, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Association.

A week before, the rate averaged 6.21 percent. A year ago, rates had started moving up from 40-year lows that were little higher than 5 percent.

In this latest survey, the average rate ...

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