Interest Rate Roundup: March 12, 2009

Mortgages

Most mortgage rates fell slightly this week, although the 30-year jumbo jumped much higher.

The average 30-year fixed-rate slipped 4 basis points, to 5.37 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

This week's average 15-year fixed -- a popular option for refinancing -- fell 6 basis points, to 4.88 percent.

In contrast, the average jumbo 30-year fixed jumped 22 basis points, to 6.99 percent.

Adjustable-rate mortgages were split this week. The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose 15 basis points, to 5.58 percent. The popular 5/1 ARM fell 5 basis points, to 5.34 percent.

Mortgage loan application activity increased for the week ending March 6, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications climbed a seasonally adjusted 11.3 percent compared to a week earlier.

Refinancing activity grew by 13.3 percent, while applications for new purchases were up 7.1 percent.

In other mortgage news, the national foreclosure rate now stands at 3.3 percent, and more than 11 percent of all mortgages are either delinquent or in foreclosure, according to the MBA.

The delinquency rate -- which includes loans at least one payment past due but excludes loans in the process of foreclosure -- was 7.88 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter in 2008. That's higher than at any other point since the MBA began tracking delinquencies in 1972.

Finally, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the mortgage debt of homeowners unable to make their monthly mortgage payments.

The Senate is expected to take up the measure soon.

To find and compare mortgage rates in your area, visit Bankrate's interactive search tool.

-- Chris Kissell