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Mortgage Rates For Week Ending July 19, 2007

Mortgage Rates Show Mixed Results This Week

McLean, VA Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.73 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending July 19, 2007, unchanged from last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.80 percent.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 6.38 percent with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.39 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.41 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.35 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.36 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.72 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.71 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.80 percent.

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

"In a week marked by stock indexes reaching new highs on Wall Street, mortgage rates lingered near the previous week's level as the latest economic indicators did not affect inflation expectations significantly," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "June's core producer price index inched up higher than market expectations, pushing the year-over-year growth rate to 1.8 percent, while the core consumer price index held steady at a 2.2 percent annual growth rate.

"The most recent statistics suggest that the housing market has yet to reach a trough. Although June's housing starts unexpectedly rose to 1.47 million units, construction of one-unit houses still saw a decline of 0.2 percent: At 1.15 million units, it was the slowest pace since January. Building permits fell by 7.5 percent last month to the lowest level since June 1997."

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac purchases single-family and multifamily residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible more than 50 million times, ensuring financing for one in six homebuyers and more than four million renters.