Freddie Mac PMMS: Long-term mortgage rates rise this week, reversing 11-week trendMortgagePress.comFreddie Mac, PMMS, Primary Mortgage Market Survey, statistics, fixed-rate mortgage, ARM, Frank Nothaft
Freddie Mac has 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 2007 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."
For more information, visit www.freddiemac.com.
