A different type of inverted-yield curve. hmmm...
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Long-term-mortgage-rates-fall/story.aspx?guid={85638614-01E5-40BF-9DDC-9841702F037B}
U.S. mortgage rates fall
Long-term mortgages now lower than short-term rates: Freddie Mac
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Rates on long-term mortgages are lower than short-term home loans, according to Freddie Mac's latest weekly survey of conforming rates, released on Thursday.
"Although long-term mortgage rates eased slightly this week, ARM rates remain elevated relative to those fixed-rate mortgages," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist, in a news release. "For instance, interest rates for 1-year ARMs exceeded those for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages over the last two weeks; this is the first time this has happened since Freddie Mac began collecting data for ARMs in January 1984."
Freddie Mac's David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer at the troubled housing finance giant, has died in an apparent suicide. WSJ's Kelsey Hubbard reports.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.80% for the week ending April 23, down from 4.82% last week and 6.03% a year ago. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.48%, unchanged from last week's record low since Freddie Mac began tracking the mortgage in 1991, and down from 5.62% a year ago.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.85%, down from 4.88% last week and 5.68% a year ago. This week's average is the lowest rate since Freddie Mac began tracking the ARM in 2005. And 1-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.82%, down from 4.91% last week and 5.29% a year ago.
To obtain the rates, the fixed-rate mortgages required payment of an average 0.7 point, the 5-year ARM required an average 0.6 point and the 1-year ARM required an average 0.4 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.
The housing market is showing some signs of possible improvement, Nothaft said. See the latest data on existing-home sales.
"House prices rose for the second consecutive month in February, the first back-to-back increase since April 2007, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Among the nine Census divisions, six experienced positive gains in February, led by a monthly increase of 3.8% in the Pacific Division," Nothaft said. See Economic Report.
A separate survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association, released on Wednesday, showed that the volume of mortgage applications filed rose a seasonally adjusted 5.3% for the week ending April 17, compared with the week before. Read more on mortgage applications.
