WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages held steady this week near their low point for the year, reflecting the slowdown in economic growth.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.16 percent nationwide this week, unchanged from last week. That level is near the low for the year of 6.14 percent for 30-year mortgages in early March.
Rates had fallen for two straight weeks before holding steady this week. Analysts said investors interpreted the recent report on economic growth as further evidence that the slowing economy will relieve pressures on inflation.
The government reported that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew at a lackluster pace of 1.3 percent in the January-to-March quarter, the weakest performance in four years.

When almost 100 prospective buyers paid $5,000 each last week to reserve nearly half the luxury condos in a downtown San Jose high-rise, even the developer was surprised.
Mesa Development had hoped for a strong reaction, but 92 buyers willing to pay hefty sums for condos in a tower that won't open until 2009 "exceeded expectations."
"We haven't even had the grand opening," said Alan Mark, of the Mark Co., who is marketing the project, Three Sixty Residences, for Chicago-based Mesa. "This has exceeded expectations. We thought it would take longer."

Marukai, a membership-based Japanese market popular in Southern California, plans to open its first Northern California store in Cupertino in January.
The supermarket will replace a Longs Drugs store that has been at 19750 Stevens Creek Blvd. since 1978.
"We've been looking for a lot of places, and that's the one because of the major Asian traffic in the future," said Kenny Enomoto, marketing and facility manager for Marukai.
The store will be 28,690 square feet, according to Tenny Tsai, a partner with NAI BT Commercial real estate brokers who represented Marukai.

When Brian Davis and his wife, Jane, installed a solar electrical system in their Willow Glen home in the fall, their goal was to help the environment. They like the results so far: They're generating more electricity than they're using, although that may change during the summer when power consumption is higher.
"It's very fun to go look at the meter and see that it's reading a fair amount less than the day before," Davis said.
Davis' projections show that the system will pay for itself in about 12 years - or less, if electricity rates rise faster than they have in the past.