Mortgage rates improved and could stay at this level through next week. The hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage declined again and has fallen 27 basis points over the past two weeks.
A 2-basis-point improvement over last week was reported for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which averaged 4.78 percent in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended Thursday. The 30-year was 5.06 percent during the same week in 2010.
Weak economic and home-price reports helped drag mortgage rates lower, according to Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Freddie, reported that the average 30-year on closed loans was 5.06 percent in March, jumping 9 BPS from February.
Based on the 10-year Treasury yield, mortgage rates are likely to come in near the same levels next week. The 10-year yield fell to 3.34 percent today from 3.42 percent a week earlier, according to data published by the Department of the Treasury.
More than three-quarters of Bankrate.com panelists surveyed for the week April 28 to May 4 predicted that mortgage rates won’t move more than 2 BPS during the next week. An increase was forecasted by 15 percent, and just 8 percent projected a decline.
The spread between the conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and the jumbo 30-year improved to 57 BPS in the U.S. Mortgage Market Index report for the week ended April 22 from 59 BPS the previous week.
At 5 BPS better than last week, the average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.97 percent in Freddie’s report. The spread between the 15 year and the 30 year was 81 BPS this week, making the 15-year more attractive then last week when the spread was 78 BPS.
A full 10 BPS lower than last week, the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages came in at 3.51 percent in Freddie’s survey. The big improvement followed a 17-basis-point decline last week.
Just a 1-basis-point decline was recorded for the Treasury-indexed one-year ARM, leaving it at 3.15 percent. The one year was 4.25 percent 52 weeks prior.
The yield on the one-year Treasury, which is used as the index on the one-year ARM, was unchanged as of today from the prior Thursday at 0.23 percent, Treasury Department data indicated. The six-month London Interbank Offered Rate was unchanged over the past week at 0.43 percent, Bankrate.com reported.
ARM share shot up to 10.42 percent in the latest Mortgage Market Index from 9.55 percent a week earlier.
