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HOUSING FINANCE
 Mortgage
Interest Rates
Mortgage interest rates increased between 28 and 41 basis points from
the previous quarter. The contract mortgage interest rate for 30-year,
fixed-rate, conventional mortgages reported by Freddie Mac was 8.26 percent
in the first quarter of 2000, 41 basis points higher than the previous
quarter and 138 basis points higher than the first quarter of 1999. Adjustable-rate
mortgages in the first quarter were going for 6.68 percent, 28 basis points
above the previous quarter and 101 basis points above the first quarter
of 1999. Fixed-rate, 15-year mortgages, at 7.86 percent, were up 40 basis
points during the first quarter and 135 basis points above the same quarter
in 1999. The FHA rate increased 32 basis points to 8.30 percent during
the first quarter of this year and was 129 basis points above the same
quarter in 1999.
Sources: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation;
Office of Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development |
 FHA 1-4
Family Mortgage Insurance*
Applications for FHA mortgage insurance on 1-4 family homes were received
for 277,500 (not seasonally adjusted) properties in the first quarter
of 2000, up 10 percent from the previous quarter but down 31 percent from
the first quarter of 1999. Total endorsements or insurance policies issued
totaled 213,600, down 15 percent from the first quarter of 1999. Purchase
endorsements were 193,700, down 14 percent from the first quarter and
down from 208,400 or 7 percent from the first quarter 1999. Endorsements
for refinancings declined to 20,000 or 26 percent from the previous quarter
and decreased 84 percent from the first quarter a year ago.
*Units in thousands of properties.
Source: Office of Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development
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 PMI and
VA Activity*
Private mortgage insurers issued 246,200 policies or certificates of insurance
on conventional mortgage loans during the first quarter of 2000, down
19 percent from the fourth quarter and down 37 percent from the first
quarter of 1999; these numbers are not seasonally adjusted. The U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs reported the issuance of mortgage loan guaranties
for 47,200 single-family properties in the first quarter of 2000, down
23 percent from the previous quarter and down 68 percent from the first
quarter of 1999.
*Units in thousands of properties.
Sources: PMI-Mortgage Insurance Companies of America; VA-Department
of Veterans Affairs |
 Delinquencies
and Foreclosures
Total delinquencies were at 3.93 percent at the end of 1999's fourth quarter,
down 4 percent from the third quarter of 1999 and down 8 percent from
the fourth quarter of 1998. Ninety-day delinquencies were at 0.56 percent,
down 5 percent from the third quarter of 1999 and down 7 percent from
the same quarter a year ago. During the fourth quarter of 1999, 0.31 percent
of loans entered foreclosures, up 3 percent from the third quarter but
down 16 percent from the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Source: National Delinquency Survey, Mortgage
Bankers Association |
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