Mortgage interest rates reverse course

Auto loan defaults on the rise

Procrastinating home loan borrowers got a reprieve this week as interest rates inched down after rising all through December.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2009 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - Procrastinating home buyers and home owners seeking a refinance got a reprieve this week as mortgage interest rates inched down after rising weekly through December last year.

For the week ending Jan. 7, 2010 the average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) came in at 5.09 percent, with an average 0.7 point, down from 5.14 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS).

One point is one percent of the total amount financed.

The current average 30-year FRM, is up from 5.01 percent a year ago, Freddie said.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.50 percent with an average 0.7 point, also down slightly from last week when it averaged 4.54 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.62 percent.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 4.44 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, unchanged from last week, but well off the 5.49 percent average a year ago.

Expect the year-to-year gap to narrow for ARM rates, but not before the second half of 2010, when the economy is expected to improve enough for Federal Reserve action.

"Current interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages are just about at their annual average for 2009, while ARM rates are considerably below their averages for last year," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

He added, "As the economy strengthens further and the Federal Reserve decides to raise its overnight target rate, ARM rates will follow suit because they are typically tied to shorter-term interest rates."

Freddie Mac also reported the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 4.31 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from 4.33 percent last week and 4.95 percent a year ago.


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Mortgage interest rates flat in New Year

Infomercials juice your brain
to induce buying behavior

Informa reports mortgage interest rates stabilized this week and remained unchanged from a week ago. Rates are, however, up slightly from this time last year.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2009 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - Mortgage interest rates came in at 5.33 percent this week, the first of the New Year, remaining unchanged from the last report in 2009.

Calabasas, CA-based Informa Research Services' Interest Rate Review said for the week ending Jan. 5, 2009, the average fixed-rate mortgage (FRMs) on conforming 30-year loans, after rising all through December, was up from 5.26 percent a year ago.

For the week ending Jan. 5, Informa found the lowest FRM rate at 4.60 percent and the high average FRM interest rate at nearly 7 percent -- 6.96 percent. They were also unchanged from a week ago.

The average 15-year FRM was up to 4.75 percent, from 4.73 percent a week ago and down from 4.96 percent this time last year, according to Informa, a market research, analyses, and intelligence gathering service for the financial industry since 1983.

The average interest rate for the 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) was also up slightly to 3.63 percent compared to 3.60 percent last week and well off the 4.28 percent last year at this time.

The FRM rates for 15- and 30-year mortgages and the 5/1 ARM rates are all based on a $200,000 purchase loan, with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio, for an owner-occupied, single-family residence.

Informa's National APR (annual percentage rates) numbers are tallied from the interest rates of some 200 mortgage originators.

Informa also reported the average rate for 30-year, non-conforming jumbo loans dropped from 6.35 percent last week to 6.25 percent this week and 7.02 percent a year ago.

Jumbo average rates averaged from a low of 5.10 percent to a high of 10.46 percent -- a shopping-around spread of more than 5 percentage points.

The jumbo averages are based on a $450,000 purchase loan with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio for an owner-occupied, single-family residence.

Rates were little changed for home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) of $50,000, with an 80 percent loan-to-value note. On Jan. 5, the variable rate came in at an average 4.99 percent, compared to 5 percent a week ago and 4.48 percent this time last year.

The average FRM rates on 15-year home equity loans of $50,000, with an 80 percent loan-to-value note came in at 7.48 percent, up from 7.45 percent late last year, but down from 7.88 percent a year ago.

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© 2009 DeadlineNews.Com

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Get "News that really hits home!" for your Web site or blog from the DeadlineNewsGroup.Com.

You are reading a sample of "News that really hits home!", now available from several beats and published in a growing number of locations.

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Perkins is also the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
• National Offbeat News Examiner
• National Consumer News Examiner
• National Real Estate Examiner

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