Mortgage Rates Sit Tight

Mortgage rates moved little this week, according to Freddie Mac (FRE) on Thursday morning, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 6.37 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ended July 10, up a mere 2 basis points from last week when it averaged 6.35 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.73 percent, Freddie said. Rates on adjustable rate mortgages also moved little, with five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARMs averaging 5.82 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week’s average of 5.78 percent. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.17 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week, Freddie said. “In the housing sector, economic reports were mixed this week,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Pending sales for existing homes fell more than expected in May but April’s increase was revised even higher, according to the National Association of Realtors. Offsetting this decline, the number of mortgage applications for home purchases over the week ending July 4th was nearly 10 percent above the over five-year low set just two weeks prior, despite the holiday break, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.” That Nothaft would point to the MBA data as an offset to news that pending sales fell more than expected is telling and likely incorrect; here at HW, we’ve been covering the shortcomings in using the MBA data as a proxy for forward mortgage demand for well over a month. Disclosure: The author held no positions FRE when this story was originally published. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.