Mortgage rates declined again in February.

The Federal Home Loan Bank Board said that fixed-rate mortgages averaged 9.54% in February, down from 9.84% in January. It marked the eighth consecutive monthly decline and left rates 1.8 percentage points lower than they were a year ago. Interest on the most popular form of adjustable rate mortgages, those with limits on the annual change, declined to 8.50% in February, down from 8.66% in January. A rate which reflects both fixed and adjustable mortgages and their relative importance in the marketplace declined to 9.26% in February, its lowest level since March, 1978.