US average 30-year mortgage rate declines

WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged lower this week. As rates remain at historically low levels, homeowners taking advantage of the chance to refinance their mortgages have pushed up refinancing activity.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average for the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 3.44 percent from 3.46 percent last week. The average rate is down from 3.90 percent a year ago, and is close to its all-time low of 3.31 percent in November 2012.

The 15-year fixed mortgage rate eased to 2.76 percent from 2.77 percent.

The share of refinancing in overall mortgage activity increased to 64 percent of total applications in the week ended Sept. 2 from 63.5 percent the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. The British vote in June to leave the European Union roiled financial markets and drove up prices of U.S. Treasury bonds — lowering their yields with long-term mortgage rates following suit. Since then, refinancing’s share of mortgage activity has stayed above 60 percent, Freddie Mac noted.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country at the beginning of each week. The average doesn’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for a 30-year mortgage rose to 0.6 point this week from 0.5 point last week. The fee for a 15-year loan was unchanged at 0.5 point.

Rates on adjustable fiveyear mortgages averaged 2.81 percent, down from 2.83 percent last week. The fee remained at 0.4 point.

Germany: Turkey ends ban on visits

BERLIN (AP )— Turkey has approved plans for German lawmakers to visit their country’s troops at a Turkish air base, officials said Thursday, ending a standoff that had deepened strains in the NATO allies’ relationship.

Turkey had refused to allow German lawmakers to visit personnel stationed at the Incirlik base since the German Parliament’s vote in June to label as genocide the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago .

Germany has reconnaissance and refueling aircraft at the base, along with some 250 military personnel, to support the campaign against the Islamic State group.

German military missions abroad need parliamentary approval, usually on an annual basis. Some lawmakers said the Incirlik mission couldn’t be extended later this year if visits weren’t allowed, raising the possibility of a diplomatically delicate withdrawal to another country.

Ankara has now approved plans for a visit by members of Parliament’s defense committee, German Foreign Minister Frank- Walter Steinmeier said.

“It must be possible for a parliamentary army to be visited by its lawmakers,” Steinmeier said in a statement. “With this decision by the Turkish government we have moved a step forward.”

The committee said its visit to Turkey will take place Oct. 4-6.

In a move that laid the groundwork for Turkey’s decision, the German government last Friday stressed that the parliamentary resolution on the killings of the Armenians wasn’t legally binding. At the same time, Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly rejected suggestions that her government was distancing itself from the motion.

On Sunday, Merkel met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in China.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event viewed by many scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey disputes the description. It says the toll has been inflated and considers those killed victims of a civil war.

Germany “met our expectations” by stating that the resolution wasn’t legally binding, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Ankara.

“They have understood what kind of approach they must display toward Turkey, that they cannot treat Turkey the way they want,” Cavusoglu said.

House Republicans press on Iran payment

WASHINGTON (AP) — Obama administration officials told Congress on Thursday that Iran wanted “immediate access” to $1.7 billion paid by the United States in cash to settle a decades-old arbitration claim between the two countries.

At a hearing called by House Republicans, officials from the departments of Treasury, State and Justice defended the payment and its cash delivery. An initial $400 million was delivered Jan. 17, the same day Tehran agreed to release four American prisoners, and the Republicans are calling it a ransom.

Christopher Backemeyer, a deputy assistant secretary of state for Iranian affairs, said Iran wanted immediate access to the money, but he said he wasn’t aware whether Iran had asked for cash. He said it was his understanding that the money is going to “critical economic needs” in Iran.

GOP Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee on oversight and investigation, said the evidence presented made it difficult to believe the payment wasn’t a ransom. He asked the witnesses if they could guarantee that the money will not fund terrorism.

“I can’t speak for every dollar that goes in and out of Iran, as you know,” Backemeyer said.

The administration had claimed the payment and the prisoner release were separate, but recently acknowledged the cash was used as leverage until the Americans were allowed to leave Iran. The remaining $1.3 billion represented estimated interest on the Iranian cash the U.S. had held since the 1970s as payment for a never-completed military equipment sale.