Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages fell this week to the lowest levels seen in six months, good news for people wanting to buy a home or refinance.

Freddie Mac, in its weekly, nationwide survey, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.69 percent for the week ending Oct. 21. That was down from 5.74 percent last week.

Rates on 30-year mortgages hit a high this year of 6.34 percent the week of May 13. Then during the late spring and early summer, rates slowly drifted downward as economic activity cooled, easing fears about inflation. However, since late August, rates have been exhibiting a seesaw pattern as markets responded to a variety of mixed signals on economic growth.

"Treasury bond yields eased somewhat this week, causing long-term mortgage rates to drift a little lower from last week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.

For 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates dropped this week to 5.07 percent, compared with 5.14 percent last week.

Rates this week for 30-year and 15-year mortgages were the lowest since the beginning of April, when they averaged 5.52 percent and 4.84 percent respectively.

For one-year adjustable rate mortgages, however, rates edged up this week to 4.02 percent, from 4.01 percent last week.

The nationwide averages for mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year and one-year ARMs each carried a 0.7 point fee. Fifteen-year mortgages had a 0.6 point fee.

A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 6.05 percent with 15-year mortgages at 5.36 percent and one-year ARMs at 3.79 percent.

Home sales are expected to hit record highs this year, aided by low mortgage rates.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said refinancing accounted for 45.6 percent of all home mortgage applications filed last week, up from 44.5 percent the previous week. Overall home-mortgage applications also were up last week from the week before.

"Lower mortgage rates, in turn, caused mortgage application activity to increase last week in both the refinance and home-purchase sectors," Nothaft said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in a speech earlier this week, said the record level of debt being carried by American households and soaring home prices do not appear to represent serious threats to the U.S. economy.

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