Mortgage Rates Fall Back a Bit This Week

| Source: Freddie Mac Freddie Mac

MCLEAN, VA--(Marketwire - March 12, 2009) - Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.03 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 12, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 5.15 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.13 percent.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.64 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.72 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.60 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.99 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.08 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.58 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.80 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.86 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.14 percent.

(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)

"Mortgage rates followed bond yields higher this week following reports of record continuing jobless claims and a downward revision in economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2008," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Real Gross Domestic Product was revised from a 3.8 percent decline to a 6.2 percent drop in the fourth quarter mostly led by a 4.3 percent fall in consumer spending, which was the largest decrease since the second quarter of 1980.

"The housing market continues to slow as well. New home sales fell 10.2 percent in January to the slowest pace since records began in January 1963 while pending existing home sales slowed by 7.7 percent, the weakest since the series began in January 2001. More recently the Federal Reserve noted in its March 4th regional economic report that residential real estate markets remained in the doldrums in most areas, with only scattered, very tentative signs of stabilization."

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.

Freddie Mac defines its regions as follows: 

Northeast:  NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT
Southeast:  NC, SC, TN, KY, GA, AL, FL, MS, PR, VI
North Central:  OH, IN, IL, MI, WI, MN, IA, ND, SD
Southwest:  TX, LA, NM, OK, AR, MO, KS, CO, NE, WY
West:  CA, AZ, NV, OR, WA, UT, ID, MT, HI, AK, GU

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) is for informational purposes only and Freddie Mac is not responsible for business decisions made based on the reported results of the PMMS. Freddie Mac may change the methodology used to conduct the PMMS survey at any time and without notice.

DEFINITIONS

Commitment Rate is the interest rate a lender would charge to lend mortgage money to a qualified borrower exclusive of the fees and points required by the lender. This commitment rate applies only to conventional financing on conforming mortgages with loan-to-value rates of 80 percent or less.

ARM Index -is the One-year Treasury

Loan to Value Ratio (LTV) is the ratio of the loan amount of a mortgage loan to the lower of the appraisal value or purchase price of the property securing the loan.

Origination Fees and Discount Points are the total charged by the lender at settlement. One point equals one percent of the loan amount.

Margin is a fixed amount added to the underlying index to establish the fully indexed rate for an ARM.

Weighted Averages for the Primary Mortgage Market Survey have been adjusted as of October 16, 2008. The new weights use the dollar volume of conventional mortgage originations within the 1-unit Freddie Mac loan limit as reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) for 2007. The weights are listed in the table below. 


Freddie Mac Region         PMMS Weights
    Northeast                 24.2
    Southeast                 19.8
  North Central               15.1
    Southwest                 12.7
      West                    28.2




         PRIMARY MORTGAGE MARKET SURVEY RESULTS
                                                       PMMS Week:  10
FROM:  Freddie Mac                              Date:  March 12, 2009



                 30-YEAR FIXED RATE MORTGAGES

                           US   NE   SE   NC   SW   W
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
AVERAGE                   5.03 4.93 5.05 5.05 5.14 5.02
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Fees & Points              0.7  0.6  0.7  0.7  0.6  0.8
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----



                 15-YEAR FIXED RATE MORTGAGES



                           US   NE   SE   NC   SW   W
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
AVERAGE                   4.64 4.56 4.69 4.65 4.70 4.64
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Fees & Points              0.7  0.6  0.7  0.7  0.6  0.8
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----




             5/1 ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGES (ARMs)


                           US   NE   SE   NC   SW   W
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
AVERAGE                   4.99 4.57 4.98 5.20 5.16 5.18
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Fees & Points              0.6  0.6  0.9  0.6  0.5  0.6
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Margin                    2.70 2.51 2.75 2.74 2.78 2.73



          1-YEAR ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGES (ARMs)



                           US   NE   SE   NC   SW   W
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
AVERAGE                   4.80 4.33 5.05 4.63 5.13 4.97
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Fees & Points              0.5  0.6  0.6  0.6  0.5  0.4
                          ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Margin                    2.75 2.74 2.75 2.73 2.82 2.75


             THE NATIONAL MORTGAGE RATE SNAPSHOT


                                        One Year Ago
                               -------------------------------
                               30-YR   15-YR            1-YR
                                 FRM     FRM   5/1 ARM   ARM
                               ------- ------- ------- -------
AVERAGE                           6.13    5.60    5.58    5.14
                               ------- ------- ------- -------
Fees & Points                      0.5     0.5     0.6     0.7
                               ------- ------- ------- -------



                                        One Week Ago
                               -------------------------------
                               30-YR   15-YR            1-YR
                                 FRM     FRM   5/1 ARM   ARM
                               ------- ------- ------- -------
AVERAGE                           5.15    4.72    5.08    4.86
                               ------- ------- ------- -------
Fees & Points                      0.7     0.7     0.6     0.5
                               ------- ------- ------- -------




Contact:
Eileen Fitzpatrick
703.903.2446
Eileen_Fitzpatrick@freddiemac.com

Find more information about Freddie Mac at its web site located at http://www.freddiemac.com

Contact Information: MEDIA CONTACT: Eileen B. Fitzpatrick 703-903-2446 Eileen_Fitzpatrick@freddiemac.com

Mot-clé

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