Economic and Housing Research
Weekly Commentary
May 2
Mortgage rates eased somewhat following the release of the advance estimate of real GDP growth for the first quarter of the year, which rose 2.5 percent but fell short of the market consensus forecast. The latest GDP report confirmed that the housing sector has become an important contributor to the economic recovery. Residential fixed investment added to overall economic growth over the past eight consecutive quarters and contributed more than 0.3 percentage points in growth over the first three months of this year. Moreover, near record low mortgage rates should further drive the housing market recovery over the near term. >> Next Commentary: May 9
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.