A pair of indices utilized to determine rate changes on some adjustable-rate mortgages both moved higher from a week earlier. Fixed mortgage rates, meanwhile, stayed put.
At 3.94 percent, average fixed rates on 30-year mortgages were no different than one week earlier, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended Nov. 2.
But interest rates on residential loans have worsened significantly from the same-seven days a year ago, when Freddie reported average long-term rates at just 3.54 percent.
Sean Becketti, chief economist for McLean, Virginia-based Freddie, noted that an announcement about a prospective new chairman of the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors
could impact rates in next week’s survey.
That announcement came today from the White House indicating President Donald J. Trump has nominated
Fed Governor Jerome H. Powell to replace Janet Yellen as Fed chair.
MBSQuoteline Director Joe Farr said in a written statement
that rates haven’t moved much since Freddie conducted its survey based on prices of mortgage-backed securities.
An increase of at least 3 BPS is expected in mortgage rates over the next week by 47 percent of panelists surveyed by Bankrate.com for the week Nov. 1 to Nov. 8 — though the same share predicted no change. Just 6 percent projected a decline.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 15 BPS higher than conforming rates in the U.S. Mortgage Market Index report from Mortgage Daily and OpenClose for the week ended Oct. 27. The spread was the same in the previous report.
Freddie’s survey indicated 15-year fixed rates averaged 3.27 percent, rising 2 BPS from the week ended Oct. 26, 2017. The spread between 15- and 30-year rates
thinned to 67 BPS from 69 BPS one week earlier.
A 2-basis-point week-over-week increase in the average rate for the Treasury-indexed, hybrid ARM
left it at 3.23 percent.
Determining rate changes on hybrid ARMs is the yield on the one-year Treasury note, which climbed to 1.46 percent Thursday from 1.43 percent seven days earlier, Treasury Department data indicate.
As of Wednesday, the six-month London Interbank Offered Rate was 1.58 percent, rising 2 BPS from the preceding Wednesday, according to Bankrate.com.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco reported that the 11th District Cost of Funds Index was 0.729 percent as of September, lower than 0.732 percent in August.
ARM share widened to 15.0 percent in the latest Mortgage Market Index report from 12.3 percent one week prior.
