REAL ESTATE

Average 30-Year Mortgage Rate Dips Below 8%: Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.95% this week, down from 8.05% last week, according to a national survey by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Last week’s average was the highest since the week of May 4, 1995, when it was 8.27%, the last time rates topped 8%. Rates then dropped to a two-year low of 6.94% in October before starting a gradual rise. On one-year adjustable--rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.75%, down from 5.80% last week. Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.48% this week, down from 7.56% a week earlier.