Mortgage rates stable

Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages were largely unchanged this week, while rates on adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans dipped slightly, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.86 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending May 14, 2009, up from 4.84 percent last week but down from 6.01 percent a year ago.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.52 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from 4.51 percent last week but down from 5.6 percent a year ago.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARMs averaged 4.82 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from 4.9 percent last week and 5.57 percent a year ago.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.71 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last 4.78 percent last week and 5.18 percent a year ago.

Looking back a week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said loan applications were down a seasonally adjusted 8.6 percent the week ending May 8 when compared to one week earlier.

Applications for refinancings were down 11.2 percent, while applications for purchase loans picked up 0.5 percent from the previous week.

Applications for refinancings accounted for 71.9 percent of total applications, down from from 74.4 percent the previous week but up from 48.7 percent a year ago. Applications for ARM loans constituted 2.3 percent of all loan requests, up from 2.1 percent the previous week.

Demand for refinancings has declined from a mid-April peak, the MBA said, while demand for purchase loans has increased modestly in recent weeks, even after accounting for normal seasonal increases.

Compared to a year ago, mortgage applications are up 32.8 percent, with demand for refinancings up 89.4 percent and demand for purchase loans down 29.8 percent.

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