Washington ? Mortgage rates this week set new lows, and economists said that is good for the housing industry.

The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 5.84 percent, down from 5.86 percent last week, the mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its latest nationwide survey.

That was the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking 30-year mortgage rates in 1971. Records that reach back earlier than Freddie Mac’s indicate that rate is the lowest since the early 1960s.

Rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, edged down to 5.21 percent, compared with 5.26 percent last week. The new rate is the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking 15-year mortgages in 1991.

Rates for one-year adjustable rate mortgages also set a record, dropping to 3.81 percent after three straight weeks at the previous record low, 3.89 percent. Freddie Mac began tracking these rates in 1984.