Mortgage Rates Diverge On Surveys
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Once again Freddie Mac and The Mortgage Bankers Association have come up with
very different results when they surveyed mortgage lenders about rates.
Freddie Mac has released its Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the
week ended June 29 and it shows some of the sharpest increases in mortgage
rates in some time. This is the fourth straight week that mortgage
rates have increased for all products.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.78 with 0.5 fees and points compared
to an average rate of 6.71 and 0.5 for the week ended June 22. The 15-year fixed-rate
mortgage increased 7 basis points to 6.43 percent while fees and points remained
steady at 0.5. These are the highest average rates for both products since the
spring of 2002.
The 5/1-year hybrid ARM was also up seven basis points although fees and points
declined from 0.6 to 0.5. The one-year ARM also increased 7 basis points to
5.82 with fees and points unchanged at 0.8. The hybrid continues to set record
highs as Freddie has only tracked it since the beginning of 2005 but this was
the highest level the one-year ARM has seen since June 8, 2001.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist said that "financial
markets continue to expect more rate hikes by the Fed over the next six months,
putting added pressure on mortgage rates. With higher interest rates, the housing
market has begun a gradual and orderly retreat towards historical norms. For
instance, new construction, home sales, and house price appreciation have all
been slowing over the past few months."
The Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the
week ending June 30, however, showed substantial decreases in average rates
for fixed rate products although fees and points did increase to varying degrees.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped from 6.86 percent to 6.80 percent with
points, including the origination fee, increasing from 1.10 to 1.13 over the
previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased
8 basis points to 6.41 percent with points increasing from 1.04 to 1.12.
The rate for the one-year ARM, however, increased slightly, from 6.36 percent
to 6.39 percent while points decreased from 0.87 to 0.78. All results are for
80 percent loan to value originations.
Application volume was up slightly, increasing 5.9 percent on both a seasonally
adjusted and unadjusted basis from a week earlier. Volume was still down substantially
- 33.3 percent - compared with the same week in 2005.
Refinancing as a share of all mortgage activity decreased
to 35.0 percent from 35.3 percent the previous week and adjustable rate mortgages
accounted for 29.5 percent of total applications compared to 29.1 a week earlier.
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