Mortgage Rates Diverge On Surveys

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.