Freddie Mac reported that rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages were at 4.75% for the week ending June 17th, essentially unchanged from 4.72% during the previous week.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) in its most recent Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 11th reported that the average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was also basically unchanged at 4.81% after the previous week’s rate of 4.82% during the prior week.
The MBA, in their Mortgage Finance Commentary for June 2010, noted the fragility of the housing market saying that:
“Early data from MBA’s Weekly Application Survey continue to suggest a fairly sharp pullback in home sales following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. We expect that sales will revive, putting the housing market back on track for a long, slow uphill climb to a more normal pace of activity. In the meantime, the steady additions to supply from foreclosed properties, coupled with the minimal number of new units on the market, and the occasional bursts of listings from current owners, will be sufficient to keep downward pressure on home prices for the near term. Given a gloomier macroeconomic outlook, we expect that national home prices will now bottom towards the end of next year before seeing some stabilization in 2012. We also expect greater differentiation in markets, with the strongest markets showing increases in prices this year.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, purchase applications declined by 18.1 percent over the month. Refinance applications increased by 34.8 percent relative to the prior month.
We predict that mortgage originations will fall to $1.4 trillion in 2010 from an estimated $2.1 trillion in 2009. Purchase originations will fall slightly to $725 billion, as home prices continue to fall and the effect from the homebuyer tax credits wane. Refinance originations will fall to $717 billion in 2010 from $1.4 trillion in 2009, but we continue to mark up our refinance origination forecast given the sharp drop in mortgage rates."
Additional information from Freddie Mac can be found by going to:
Primary Mortgage Market Survey - PMMS - Freddie Mac
Additional information from the Mortgage Bankers Association can be found by going to their site at:
Research and Forecasts - Mortgage Bankers Association
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