This was the sixth week of mortgage rates’ fall.  One year adjustable rate mortgages fell to an average of 5.59 percent, but that is still more than a full percentage point higher than one-year ARMs were a year ago.

Mortgage rates continued to drift lower this week in large part because of the cooling in the housing market and in consumer confidence, giving financial markets reason to believe that economic growth will moderate and inflation will remain in check.

A report from the Mortgage Bankers Association earlier this week said applications for home purchases fell last month to the lowest level since November 2003.

 -joshdi16-