Mixed Rate Movements

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.16%, unchanged from last week, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. At this time a year ago, the 30-year was 6.35%.

“Despite concerns about possible spillovers from the troubles in the subprime market, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages remained stable,” Freddie Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said in a written statement.

He said recent existing home sales data offered some hope of firming in housing demand, while new home sales data suggested more time will be needed before a housing recovery occurs.

Half of the 100 panelists surveyed by Bankrate.com this week believe mortgage rates will remain relatively unchanged over the next 35 to 45 days, while 29 of them forecast a downturn and the rest an upturn.

For the upcoming quarter, the 30-year is expected to average as low as 6.15% and as high as 6.40%, according to the latest forecasts by Fannie Mae, the Mortgage Bankers Association and Freddie Mac.

The 15-year reportedly averaged 5.86%, slipping 4 basis points from a week ago.

The 10-year Treasury yield was 4.63% late today, climbing from a week ago when it was 4.58%.

Down 3 BPS to 5.88% was the average for 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, Freddie said.

But while the five-year fell, the 1-year crept higher.

The only weekly increase – 3 BPS to 5.43% — was with the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM average, the survey showed. The 1-year T-bill, however, decreased 3 BPS for the week to 4.91% on Tuesday, Federal Reserve data showed.

Mortgage application volume was mostly unchanged from the previous week, as refinance requests edged down by less than 1 percent and purchase money application activity stagnated, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 23.

The refinance share remained at 45%, MBA said, but the ARM share nudged down from the previous week to one-fifth of total mortgage applications.