As fixed rates improved to new lows for the year, adjustable rates plummeted.
At 6 basis points better than last week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.49 percent in Freddie Mac’s survey of 125 mortgage lenders for the week ended June 9. The 30-year was better than 4.72 percent during the same week last year.
Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft attributed the decline in rates to a weak employment report.
Compared to last Thursday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was 4 BPS lower — closing today at 2.30 percent based on data reported by the Department of the Treasury. The decline wasn’t much different than the decline in the 30-year mortgage and suggests rates could come in relatively unchanged in next week’s rate reports.
A majority of the panelists surveyed by Bankrate.com for the week June 9 to June 15 agreed that rates won’t move over the next week. An equal share of the respondents, 19 percent each, predicted rates will either rise at least 3 BPS or fall.
The difference between a 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgage and a jumbo 30-year was 52 BPS in the U.S. Mortgage Market Index report for the week ended June 3 from Mortech Inc. and MortgageDaily.com, significantly widening from 36 BPS a week prior.
The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Freddie, fell 6 BPS from seven days ago to 3.68 percent. The spread between the 15-year and 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged at 81 BPS.
A 13-basis-point weekly decline was recorded by Freddie for the five-year Treasury-indexed, adjustable-rate mortgage, which averaged 3.28 percent.
Also sinking was the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM — by 18 BPS to 2.95. The one-year sits nearly a full percent below 3.91 percent a year earlier.
Borrowers with one-year ARMs look to the yield on the one-year Treasury to determine how much their rates will adjust. The one-year Treasury yielded 0.19 percent today, no different than last Thursday, according to the Treasury Department.
Bankrate.com reported the six-month LIBORÂ at 0.40 percent this week, unchanged from last Wednesday.
The share of inquiries in the latest Mortgage Market Index report that were for ARMs eased to 9.47 percent from the previous week’s 10.01 percent. ARM activity was down 9 percent.
