Several Tristate mortgage lenders, including some of Cincinnati's largest banks, are offering mortgages at 8 percent or below.

        That's great news for consumers frightened from buy ing homes or refinancing loans this year, thanks to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates six times since June 1999.

        The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate $100,000 mortgage was 8.02 percent this week, according to a weekly survey of 26 local lenders by the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. Five of the lenders offered mortgages below 8 percent with no points, while seven were at 8 percent. The lowest rate was 7.5 percent and the highest was 8.625 percent.

        The last time the average rate on a 30-year home loan locally hit 8 percent was Dec. 15, 1999. Since then, rates have fluctuated as high as 8.70 percent in late May.

        Several lenders — including Fifth Third, Third Federal Savings, PNC, Provident, and Town and Country Mortgage — have quietly lowered rates in recent weeks to boost activity.

        The lower rates enticed Lou and Melissa Martini to buy a $188,000 home in Delhi Township after securing a 7.85 percent rate on a 30-year mortgage at Third Federal.

        “If rates were higher than 8 percent, we would have not moved up but stayed where we were,” Mr. Martini said.

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