European debt crises once more pushed interest rates for mortgage loans to new lows across the board, even while the U.S. economy picked up steam around much of the country.

Finance Web site Bankrate.com and mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported all-time record lows for their mortgage products in weekly surveys each released Thursday.

Freddie Mac found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falling to 3.89 percent, down from 3.91 percent last week and far below 4.71 percent seen around the same time last year. The new low marked a six consecutive week in which mortgage rates stayed below 4 percent.

Bankrate.com said that rates for the 30-year loan stayed the same at 4.18 percent from last week.

“Despite a better tone of U.S. economic data – including a

stronger jobs report released last week – the European debt crisis continues to fuel the record low mortgage rates,” Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst with the finance Web site, tells us.

The specter of sovereign default in several European Union member states, notably Italy and Spain, continues to steer investors away from the continent and toward the safe haven of U.S. Treasury debt.

The New York Times reported Thursday that investors were monitoring auctions for $6.3 billion in debt scheduled for Spain – a process made substantively worse because Europe lacks the centralized system that allowed the United States to create a backstop by buying and guaranteeing residential mortgage loans.

Interest rates for other mortgage products likewise fell to new lows.

Freddie Mac found the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage falling to 3.16 percent this week, down from 3.23 percent last week. Bankrate.com reported seeing 3.38 percent for the 15-year loan, a few percentage points down from 3.40 last week.

The finance Web site also noted seeing rates for the 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) slip to 3.04 percent, down from 3.19 percent last week.

For Freddie, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.82 percent this week, down from 2.86 percent last week, while the 1-year ARM came to 2.76 percent, a decline from 2.80 percent last week.