Quiet Week in Mortgage Industry

The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 5.72%, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, off 2 BPS from the prior week. A year ago the average was reported at 5.83%.

“Last year, our forecast called for interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to exceed six percent by this time this year,” said the secondary lender’s chief economist Frank Nothaft. “Today’s annual average mortgage rates are below even that projection thanks to the spring ‘soft-patch’ in economic growth.”

None of the 100 mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers and other industry panelists surveyed by Bankrate.com see rates dropping during the next 30 to 45 days, while 57% project rising rates.

Freddie reported the average 15-year was unchanged from last week at 5.15%.

Early Friday, the 10-year Treasury yield was trading at 100 2/32, off $0.3125. The yield was 4.23%, up 3 BPS.

In its fourth week of ascension, the average 1-year ARM was up 10 BPS to 4.27%, according to the survey. Despite the rising average, ARM loans maintained their market share of 34%, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

Overall mortgage applications, as measured by the Market Composite Index, were off by 6% — with purchase applications down 4% and refinance applications down 8%, according to MBAs Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. The share of loans that were for refinance was mostly unchanged at 48%.