Economic and Housing Research
Weekly Commentary
May 16
Mortgage rates followed U.S. Treasury bond yields higher this week on signs of stronger consumer spending. Advanced retail sales rose 0.1 percent in April, above the market forecast consensus of a 0.3 percent decline. Excluding such items as automobiles and gasoline, sales were up 0.5 percent for the second time in three months.
Households are also shoring up their balance sheets. Total household debt fell by about $110 billion in the first quarter. In addition, approximately 3.0 million homeowners were seriously delinquent (90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure) on their first mortgages, down from a peak of about 5.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. >> Next Commentary: May 23
Federal COF Index
The Federal Cost of Funds Index (COFI) is used as a benchmark for some types of mortgage loans and securities. It is calculated as the sum of the monthly average interest rates for marketable Treasury bills and for marketable Treasury notes, divided by two, and rounded to three decimal places.
Federal Cost of Funds Index is Used for Some ARM Adjustments
The Federal COFI is made available by Freddie Mac on or about the 20th day of each month. Freddie Mac first began publicly providing the Federal COFI in March, 1991; values are calculated for earlier years to illustrate what the index values would have been for those periods and are provided for research purposes only. The Federal COFI is not adjusted to reflect subsequent changes in the underlying Treasury rates once the value has been posted.
Historical Federal COFI Data
Disclaimer
Opinions, estimates, forecasts and other views contained in this page are those of Freddie Mac's Office of the Chief Economist, do not necessarily represent the views of Freddie Mac or its management, should not be construed as indicating Freddie Mac's business prospects or expected results, and are subject to change without notice. Although the Office of the Chief Economist attempts to provide reliable, useful information, it does not guarantee that the information is accurate, current or suitable for any particular purpose. © 2013 by Freddie Mac. Information from this page may be used with proper attribution.