Mortgage Rates Stagnant But Refinancing Strong

Mortgage rates for the week ended October 5 barely budged. After substantial downward moves over the last ten weeks only the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and the one-year ARM changed at all, declining only slightly from the previous week.

Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported that the long-term mortgage which was 6.31 percent and 0.4 points during the week ended September 28 was 6.30 with 0.3 points last week. The 30-year mortgage has lost 50 basis points since its 2006 high during the week ended July 20. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged at 5.98 percent with 0.4 in fees and points.

The 5/1 Treasury-indexed ARM was unchanged at 6.0 with an average of 0.5 point and the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 5.46 percent, a loss of one basis point from the previous week, while fees and points increased from 0.6 to 0.7.

Freddie Mac noted that home refinancing rose 18 percent last week, accounting for almost half of all mortgage applications.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey show rates up across the board for the week ended October 6, but the changes again were small.

The average contract interest rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased 3 basis points to 6.27 percent and points, including the origination fee, were up from 1.03 to 1.08. The 15-year fixed rate mortgage increased from 5.86 percent with 1 point to 5.9 percent with 1.11 points. The one-year ARM moved upward 2 basis points to 5.88 percent and points increased from 0.79 to 0.85.

All mortgage rates quoted are for 80 percent loan to value contracts.

Mortgage application activity was down slightly from the previous week, decreasing 5.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. Applications were down 13.3 percent from the pace one year ago but this is a marked improvement from the 20 to 30 percent decline in activity that had been reported each week for most of the year up until late September.

Unlike Freddie Mac, MBA’s survey showed a slight decline in refinancing, from 46.7 percent of all applications to 46.4 percent. This is still well above the 34 percent share that had been predicted by many economists for the year. Applications for adjustable rate mortgages were virtually unchanged; 26.9 percent of all applications in the latest report, 27 percent the week before.