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| Loan applications edged higher, while mortgage rates were little changed.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.88%, remaining unchanged from just seven days ago, as reported by Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. One year ago, the 30-year average sat at 6.22%. The 15-year fixed-rate averaged 5.42%, also showing no change from a week earlier, according to Freddie. “Once again, mortgage rates held relatively steady this week amid release of subdued economic data,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie chief economist, said in the survey. “For example, pending existing home sales hit the lowest value since its introduction in January 2001, presaging additional weakness in single-family home sales over the upcoming months.” The yield on the 10-year Treasury was reported by CNNMoney at 3.52%, an improvement of 4 basis points from last week. According to Bankrate.com’s survey for the week ending April 16, 43 of the 100 surveyed mortgage industry panelist foresee a rise in rates during the next 35 to 45 days, while another 43 expect no change, and only 14 believe rates will fall. The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 5.56%, as indicated by Freddie, falling slightly from last week’s average of 5.59%. Freddie also reported that the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM had an average of 5.18%, off one BPS from seven days ago. The one-year Treasury’s yield itself was 1.60 Wednesday, seven BPS better than a week earlier. The six-month London Interbank Offered Rate was 2.68%, an increase of 0.06% from one week ago, as reported on Bankrate.com. According to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week ending April 4, the ARM share of mortgage applications rose to 7% from last week’s 5% of total applications. Loan applications saw increases on all fronts, MBA’s survey showed. The latest Market Composite Index increased 5% to 725.6 from 688.3 the prior week — when it tumbled 29%. Government applications rose 15%, while purchase applications saw an increase of 8%, according to the MBA data. The refinance index edged 3% higher, but the refinance share of activity dropped to 52% of total applications from 53% in the prior week. |
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Natalie Merrill is a staff writer for MortgageDaily.com with a Journalism degree from Southern Methodist University. e-mail: merrill.natalie@yahoo.com |
