It’s been eight months since an increase was reported for the Cost of Funds Index and nearly a year-and-a-half since it has been this low.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco reported that the index was 1.469 percent in February, lower than the previous month’s 1.484 percent.
In fact, COFI has been lower each month since June 2010 — when it rose to 1.797 percent from 1.791 percent a month earlier. It hasn’t been this low since October 2009, when it stood at 1.259 percent.
In February 2010, the index was 1.614 percent.
COFIÂ is calculated based on the interest expense of 11th District FHLBÂ members. Average total funds used in February’s calculation were $35.3 billion, lower than $35.7 billion in January.
A much more widely used index on adjustable-rate mortgages is the yield on the one-year Treasury. The Department of the Treasury reported that the one-year yield eased to 0.25 percent at the end of February from 0.26 percent on Jan. 31. The one-year yield closed today at 0.27 percent.
ARMs accounted for 9.48 percent of all new activity in the U.S. Mortgage Market Index for the week ended Friday from Mortech Inc. and Mortgage Daily.
