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Freddie Mac reported most mortgage rates up for the fourth straight week (March 3), but the Mortgage Bankers Association had them going in the opposite direction. Even with all of the ups and downs over the last two and a half months, rates are only a smidgen above where they started out the year.
According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed rate for the week ending March 3 was 5.79 percent, up 0.10 from one week earlier, but only .02 percent higher than the January 6 figure. 15-year rates were 5.33 percent, up from 5.22 percent the previous week and nearly identical to the figure for the first week of 2005. The 5-year ARM, which had moved up very slowly from its initial January number of 5.03, jumped 0.12 percent last week to 5.17 percent. The 1-year ARM, however, actually dropped a bit, to 4.14 percent from 4.16 for the week ended February 24. At the first of the year the 1-year ARM was at 4.10 percent.
Points and fees either held steady (30-year at 0.7 and 1-year ARM at 0.8) or declined 0.1, resulting in average fees and points of 0.7 for the 5-year and 0.6 for the 15.
In contrast, MBA reported that the 30-year decreased to 5.69 percent from 5.74 percent the previous week, and the 15-year was down to 5.25 percent from 5.27. Just to make sure the inconsistency between the two reports was completely consistent, MBA's data showed the 1-year ARM increasing relatively sharply from 4.27 percent to 4.43 percent.
The refinancing share of the mortgage market continued to decline. In the most recent week, refinancing represented 42.6 percent of total mortgage applications, down 2.2 percent from the previous week and well off of its 48-49 percent share during the early part of the year.
The popularity of adjustable rate mortgages also continued to fall. ARM's now constitute only 30.5 percent of the market.
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