The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage finished this year 4 basis points higher than it started. But the one-year adjustable-rate mortgage was 47 BPS better. Meanwhile, refinances tumbled during the latest week.
In Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended Dec. 31, the average 30-year was 5.14%, 9 BPS worse than a week earlier. A year earlier, the average 30-year was 5.10%.
Conventional 30-year mortgages averaged 5.250% in the Mortech-MortgageDaily.com Mortgage Market Index for the week ended Dec. 30. The 30-year averaged 4.875% in the week ended Dec. 23. The average jumbo 30-year rose to 6.125% from 6.000%. The report reflected data from pricing engine inquiries by Mortech’s more than 10,000 users.
Also 9 BPS higher than last week in Freddie’s survey, the average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.54%. The 15-year climbed to 4.375% from 4.250% in the Mortech-MortgageDaily.com index.
Fixed rates might wind up lower in next week’s reports based on the 10-year Treasury note yield, which rose to 3.839% during trading today from 3.82% at the close of business a week ago, based on data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
But Bankrate.com panelists for the week Dec. 31 to Jan. 6 see it differently, with 61% predicting an increase of at least 3 BPS during the next 35 to 45 days. Less than a third projected a decline, while 8% forecasted no change.
The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM averaged just 4 BPS more than last week at 4.44%, Freddie reported.
The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM actually declined — with the average falling to 4.33% from 4.38% in Freddie’s survey last week. The one-year averaged 4.85% a year ago.
The index for the one-year ARM, the yield on the one-year Treasury bill, closed yesterday at 0.45%, rising from 0.41% seven days prior, the Treasury reported.
Another ARM index, the six-month London Interbank Offered Rate, was unchanged from last week at 0.43%, according to Bankrate.com. Fannie Mae said in Announcement 09-38 last week that servicers must use the LIBORÂ index values from the print edition of the Wall Street Journal for determining rate changes.
The Mortgage Bankers Association took this week off and had no weekly application report.
But applications fell by more than a quarter from the prior week in the Zillow Mortgage Rate Monitor released Tuesday.
The national average loan amount in the Mortech-MortgageDaily.com index was $202,746, down from $209,354 seven days earlier. Hawaii’s $267,417 was the highest average of any state, followed by $264,662 in Massachusetts and $259,394 in Washington, D.C. The lowest average was in Nebraska: $138,642.
The average U.S. jumbo loan was $650,342, easing from $654,668 in the prior Mortech-MortgageDaily.com index. The highest jumbo loan amount was in Oklahoma, where the average was $896,400. Missouri’s $889,865 was next, then Mississippi’s $854,000. The lowest average jumbo loan amount, $425,000, was in Montana.
The share of refinances fell to 39% from 50% in last week’s Mortech-MortgageDaily.com index. This week’s share included a 27% share for rate-term refinances and a 12% cashout share.
