Economic and Housing Research
Weekly Commentary
October 3
With the onset of the federal government shutdown and declining consumer confidence, fixed mortgage rates fell for the third consecutive week. Consumer sentiment fell for the second month in a row in September to its lowest reading since April, according to the University of Michigan. Moreover, a recent Bloomberg survey of professional forecasters suggests that a partial federal shutdown lasting one week would shave 0.1 percentage points off of GDP growth in the fourth quarter and even more if the shutdown lasts longer. >> Next Commentary: October 10
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.