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U.S. Mortgage Rates Flat in Weekly Survey

Mortgage rates posted little or no movement in the week ending May 3, 2007, according to finance company Freddie Mac. Their weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey® was released Thursday.

“The recently advanced report of first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was weaker than expected, growing only 1.3 percent. The housing market alone shaved a full percentage point off real GDP growth," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Additionally, both consumer spending and price increases in consumer expenditures were quite tame in March. These contributing factors allowed mortgage rates to hold steady this week.”
This week’s survey indicates 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged 6.16 percent, unchanged from last week’s average of 6.16 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged a much higher 6.59 percent.

Fixed mortgage rates for 15-year terms averaged 5.87 percent, the same as last week’s average of 5.87. A year ago, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.22 percent.

Averages for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) experienced small declines this week. Five-year ARMs averaged 5.87 percent this week, down slightly from last week’s average of 5.88 percent. At this time last year, the five-year ARM averaged 6.21 percent.
One-year ARMs averaged 5.42 percent this week, down from last week’s average of 5.43 percent. Last year, the one-year ARM averaged 5.67 percent.
Freddie Mac said that to obtain these rates lenders charged an average 0.5-point fee (no cost mortgage refinance rates)for fixed-rate mortgages. For ARMs, lenders charged an average 0.6-point fee for five-year terms, and an average 0.7-point fee for one-year terms. 

“Interestingly, the refinance share of mortgage applications has been on a downward trend from a recent peak of nearly 53 percent in December, 2006 to around 42 percent last week,” said Nothaft. “But a majority of refinancing involved homeowners extracting equity from their homes. Given that rates on home equity loans are currently around 8.25 percent, homeowners have a big incentive to use cash-out refinancing as an alternative source of financing.”
Freddie Mac is a mortgage finance company established by Congress in 1970. The company buys mortgages and mortgage-related securities and packages them to sell to investors or to hold in its own portfolio. They release their summary of average mortgage rates weekly.

U.S. Mortgage Rates Drop for First Time in Six Weeks

Mortgage rates decreased across the board due to reports on inflation in the week ending April 19, 2007, according to finance company Freddie Mac. Their weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey® was released Thursday.

“Mortgage rates slipped following the latest reports of moderation in inflation rates from the core producer price and consumer price indexes," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Excluding food and energy, the core inflation rate for consumer prices rose 2.5 percent year-over-year, the smallest annual growth since May 2006. This helped calm markets and brought mortgage rates down.”
This week’s survey indicates 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged 6.17 percent, down from last week’s average of 6.22 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged a much higher 6.53 percent.

Fixed mortgage rates for 15-year terms averaged 5.89 percent, a small drop from last week’s average of 5.90. A year ago, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.17 percent.

Averages for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) also experienced movement down this week. Five-year ARMs averaged 5.92 percent this week, compared to last week’s average of 5.93 percent. At this time last year, the five-year ARM averaged 6.16 percent.
One-year ARMs averaged 5.45 percent this week, down from last week’s average of 5.47 percent. Last year, the one-year ARM averaged 5.63 percent.
Freddie Mac said that to obtain these rates lenders charged an average 0.5-point fee for fixed-rate mortgages. For ARMs, lenders charged an average 0.6-point fee for five-year terms, and an average 0.7-point fee for one-year terms. 

“The low mortgage rates that have prevailed so far in 2007 may have a stabilizing effect on the housing sector,” said Nothaft. “Both housing starts and new permits for March came in above expectations, but February's housing starts numbers were revised downward. Because of weather-induced fluctuations in housing statistics, we will have to see what the numbers show later in the Spring to gauge whether the March readings are indeed a signal of market turnaround.”
Freddie Mac is a mortgage finance company established by Congress in 1970. The company buys mortgages and mortgage-related securities and packages them to sell to investors or to hold in its own portfolio. They release their summary of average mortgage rates weekly.