Thursday

MORTGAGE RATES RISE ON POSITIVE ECONOMIC NEWS


NEWS REPORTED DURING THE WEEK

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.84 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 7, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 4.78 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.05 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.51 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.48 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.60 percent.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARMs: Averaged 4.90 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.80 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.67 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 4.78 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.77 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.29 percent.

Freddie Says

Mortgage rates rose slightly this week amid positive economic news that the economy may be approaching the bottom of the recession, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. In terms of the household sector, the final April estimate of consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan, was revised above the market consensus. On the business side, the ISM Manufacturing Index for April also exceeded market expectations.

In addition, the positive news was corroborated by Fed Chairman Bernanke when he stated that he expects economic activity to bottom out, then to turn up later this year. He also noted that the housing market is beginning to stabilize. For instance, pending existing home sales rose for the second consecutive time in March and represented the first back-to-back monthly increase since March 2008. Furthermore, in its April 2009 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, the Federal Reserve found the demand for prime mortgages rose for the first time since April 2007 when it first began collecting such detailed mortgage data.

Thanks for Reading

Howard Bell
www.yourpropertypath.com
A web site of over 450 articles related to real estate focused primarily on property management.

Your Property PathSF
http://yourpropertypath.blogspot.com/
Trade talk for the San Francisco real estate industry. Your source for property management tips, policies and market trends.

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