Mortgage rates fall to lowest level in more than a year

This week’s stock market volatility has a golden lining for wannabe home buyers. Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest level in more than a year, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage on Thursday is 6.47% — down 0.26% compared with a week ago. The average 15-year fixed rate mortgage is 5.63% — down 0.36% compared with last Thursday.

The government-sponsored Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. attributed the mortgage rate plunge to the market’s overreaction to an unfavorable U.S. unemployment report last week.

On Friday, The Labor Department reported job growth in the United Slowed was lower than expected in July, with nonfarm payrolls growing by 114,000 positions. Dow Jones had estimated 185,000 would be created in July.