McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), and for yet another week, fixed-rate mortgages reached record lows, as did the 5-year adjustable rate in this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, the 15-year began in 1991, and the 5-year adjustable in 2005.)

News Facts

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.32 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending September 2, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.36 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.08 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged a record low of 3.83 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.86 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.54 percent.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.54 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.56 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.59 percent.

1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.50 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.52 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.62 percent.

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

Quotes

Attributed to Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac.

"The 12-month price growth of core personal expenditures remained at 1.4 percent in July, which kept overall inflation expectations well at bay. Fed chairman Bernanke reiterated this in his August 27th speech in Wyoming, noting that with inflation expectations reasonably stable and the economy growing, inflation should remain near current readings for some time before rising slowly. As a result, mortgage rates eased further this week to new historic lows.

"House prices, however, appear to be firming. Home prices rose 2.3 percent between the first and second quarter of this year, reaching the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the S&P/Case Shiller® National Home Price Index . In addition, 15 metropolitan areas in the 20-City Composite Index experienced annual house price growth in June, compared to 13 in May and 11 in April."

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.

Source: FreddieMac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), www.freddiemac.com

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), and for yet another week, fixed-rate mortgages reached record lows, while the 5-year adjustable rate remained tied at its low for this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, the 15-year began in 1991, and the 5-year adjustable in 2005.)

News Facts

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.36 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 26, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.42 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.14 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged a record low of 3.86 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.90 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.58 percent.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.56 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, unchanged from last week when it also averaged 3.56 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.67 percent.

1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.52 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down slightly from last week when it also averaged 3.53 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.69 percent.

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

Quotes

Attributed to Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac.

"Existing home sales plunged 27 percent in July, while new homes fell 12 percent to a new all-time record low, which led to some market concerns that the housing market may slow the economic recovery. As a result, long-term bond yields fell to the lowest levels since January 2009, allowing fixed mortgage rates to ease to new record lows this week.

"Much of the slowdown in sales, however, was expected due to the recently expired homebuyer tax programs, which pulled through future home purchases into the first half of the year. For instance, average existing home sales over the first seven months of 2010 were nearly 8 percent higher than over the same period a year ago.

"Moreover, house prices still appear to be stabilizing. Nationally, house prices rose 0.9 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis during the second quarter of this year this year after 11 consecutive quarterly declines, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's purchase only index. Eight of the nine census regions experienced positive gains, compared to none in the first quarter."

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.

Source: FreddieMac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), www.freddiemac.com

ARMs Unchanged This Week From Last

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), and for yet another week, the fixed-rate mortgages reached another low, while the 5-year adjustable rate remained tied at its low for this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, the 15-year began in 1991, and the 5-year adjustable in 2005.)

News Facts

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.42 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 19, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.44 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.12 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged a record low of 3.90 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.92 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.56 percent.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.56 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, unchanged from last week when it also averaged 3.56 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.57 percent.

1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.53 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week when it also averaged 3.53 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.69 percent.

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

Quotes

Attributed to Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac.

"Investors in long-term bonds appear very confident that inflation will remain in check, and as a result long-term fixed mortgage rates have continued to fall. This week marks the ninth straight week in the Primary Mortgage Market Survey® that 30-year-fixed mortgage rates have met or set a new record low.

"This week's release of the Consumer Price Index indicates that current inflation is very low. The 12-month growth in the core consumer price index has held at only 0.9 percent for four straight months ending in July. The last time price growth was this low was the year ending January 1966.

"The housing market is in a lull following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credits. Single-family starts fell for the third straight month in July to an annual pace of 432,000 homes, the fewest since May 2009. In addition, homebuilder confidence fell for the third consecutive month in August to the lowest since March 2009, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index . Even confidence among realtors was at a 16-month low in June, according to the National Association of Realtors ®."

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.

Source: Freddiemac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), www.freddiemac.com

5-Year Adjustable Also Sets New Low

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), and again, the fixed-rate mortgages reaching, along with the 5-year adjustable rate, set record lows for this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, the 15-year began in 1991, and the 5-year adjustable in 2005.)

News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.44 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 12, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.49 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.29 percent.
• 15-year FRM this week averaged a record low of 3.92 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.95 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.68 percent.
• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.56 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.63 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.75 percent.
• 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.53 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.55 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.72 percent.

Quotes

Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

• "Interest rates for fixed mortgages and 5-year hybrid ARMs again broke record lows this week following reports of a sluggish job market. Private payrolls increased by 71,000 jobs in July, below the market consensus forecast, and revisions shaved June's growth by 34,000 workers. The Federal Reserve also noted in its August 10th policy statement that the pace of recovery in output and employment slowed since its last meeting in June.
• "Low rates are helping to heal many battered local housing markets by increasing home-purchase activity. The National Association of Realtors® reported that 65 percent of the 155 metropolitan areas they track experienced yearly increases in the second quarter of this year. This compares to 60 percent of areas in the first quarter and only 44 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009."

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.

Source: FreddieMac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), www.freddiemac.com

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), with the 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages reaching record lows for this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, and the 15-year began in 1991.) The 5-year adjustable rate mortgage also reached its lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking it in 2005.

News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.49 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 5, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.54 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.22 percent.
• 15-year FRM this week averaged a record low of 3.95 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.00 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.63 percent.
• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.63 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.76 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.73 percent.
• 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.55 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.64 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.78 percent .

Quotes

Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

"And yet again, interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages and now the hybrid 5-year ARM fell to all-time record lows this week following the second quarter GDP release . Annual revisions cut the cumulative GDP growth in half over the past three years ending in the first quarter of 2010 from 1.4 percent to 0.6 percent. This reduces inflationary pressures and allows longer-term rates room to ease.

"More recently, housing investment picked up in the second quarter of this year as the homebuyer tax credit spurred new and existing sales and low mortgage rates encouraged remodeling. Fixed residential investment added 0.6 percentage points to second quarter real GDP growth following two quarters of decline."

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.

Source: FreddieMac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), www.freddiemac.com