Fixed-related mortgage rates were flat to slightly lower for the week ending April 22, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey.
The 30-year fixed rates were unchanged at 5.07% with an average 0.7 point, 15-year fixed slipped one basis point to 4.39%, and 5/1 hybrid ARMs dropped five basis points to 4.03%. Meanwhile, one-year ARMs rose to 4.22% from 4.13% last week.
With mortgage rates holding steady, refinancing activity is likely to see just a muted response. For the week ending April 16, the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Refinance Index jumped nearly 16% to ~2372 in response to the first decline in mortgage rates in four weeks to 5.07% from 5.21% in the previous week.
Meanwhile, purchase activity should benefit from the homebuyers tax credit which is set to expire next Friday, April 30.
However, this time around the response to the tax credit has not generated as strong a response as the original first-time homebuyers tax credit did.
The Purchase Index got as high as 306 for the week ending October 2, 2009 with the original tax credit nearing expiration.
In the most recent report from the MBA, the Purchase Index stood at 240. So far in this second tax credit opportunity, it reached a high of 244 for the week ending April 2.
