Residential Real Estate News
Long-Term Mortgage Rates Rise This Week, Reversing 11-Week Trend
(News Source: Freddie Mac)
Mclean, VA -- Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.12 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending January 22, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 4.96 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.48 percent.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.80 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.65 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.95 percent.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.24 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.25 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.13 percent. The 5-year ARM has not been this low since the week ending September 8, 2005, when it also averaged 5.24 percent.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.92 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.89 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.99 percent.
(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)
"Fixed-rate mortgages followed bond yields and edged up this holiday week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "However, over the first three weeks of 2009, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 0.25 percentage points below its monthly average for December 2008. As a result, the number of mortgage applications for refinancing was roughly about 86 percent of all conventional loans over the same time period.
"New housing construction continues to thin due to foreclosures and an abundance of unsold homes. Housing starts for 1-family homes fell 13.5 percent in December 2008 to an annualized pace just under 400,000 houses, the slowest pace since the data were collected in January 1959. In addition, homebuilder confidence fell to a record low in January since history began in January 1985."
Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.
Summary of Survey Results
Fixed-Rate Mortgages
Five/One-Year Adjustable-Rate Mortgages
One-Year Adjustable-Rate Mortgages
Freddie Mac defines its regions as follows:
Northeast: NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT
Southeast: NC, SC, TN, KY, GA, AL, FL, PR, VI, MS
North Central: OH, IN, IL, MI, WI, MN, IA, ND, SD
Southwest: TX, LA, NM, OK, AR, MO, KS, CO, NE, WY
West: CA, AZ, NV, OR, WA, UT, ID, MT, HI, AK, GU
