Mortgage Rates Continue Upward Trend According To Freddie Mac’s Weekly Survey

April 22, 2006

Long-Term Mortgage Rates Highest In Nearly Four Years

McLean, VA – Results of the Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) Primary Mortgage Market SurveySM (PMMSSM) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.53 percent, with an average 0.6 point, for the week ending April 20, 2006, up from last week’s average of 6.49 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.80 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been higher since the week ending July 12, 2002, when it averaged 6.54 percent.

The average for the 15-year FRM this week is 6.17 percent, with an average 0.5 point, up from last week’s average of 6.14 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.36 percent. The 15-year FRM has not been higher since the week ending June 13, 2002, when it averaged 6.17 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.16 percent this week, with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 6.13 percent. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 5.22 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.63 percent this week, with an average 0.9 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.61 percent. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 4.26 percent.

“Mortgage rates drifted upward this week following the release of the Consumer and Producer Price Indexes for March, which came in at the upper end of market expectations for inflation,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “As a result of higher mortgage rates, housing market activity is beginning to slow, as evidenced in the lower housing starts statistics for March.

“Even though lenders are offering greater interest rate discounts on ARMs, the interest rate savings has declined relative to fixed-rate mortgages. The ARM share of applications dipped to 32 percent in March from 35 percent in November 2005, according to our survey. If the Fed continues to raise short-term rates, the ARM share will likely decline further.”







The National Mortgage Rate Snapshop
This Week One Week Ago One Year Ago
30-Yr 15-Yr 5-Yr
ARM		 1-Yr ARM
6.53 6.17 6.16 5.63
0.6 0.5 0.8 0.9
30-Yr 15-Yr 5-Yr
ARM		 1-Yr ARM
6.49 6.14 6.13 5.81
0.6 0.5 0.7 0.8
30-Yr 15-Yr 5-Yr
ARM		 1-Yr ARM
5.80 5.36 5.22 4.26
0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6

Source: Freddie Mac


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