Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.73%, down from last week’s 4.75% and 6.05% a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 4.78%, down from 4.8% last week and 5.22% last year.  To obtain the interest rates this low, the fixed rate home loans and the five-year ARM rate will cost about 0.6 point and the one-year ARM required an average 0.5 point.

Bloomberg reported in a recent article that mortgage fees may become making it harder for people to seek refinancing. However, it is expected that the mortgage refinancing will hit a two year high. I am kind of contradicting myself, am I not? “David Rapaport, a professor at the University of California San Diego Medical School, is paying an upfront fee of $3,500 to refinance his mortgage at 5.13%. A year ago, his rate was 6.25% and there were no fees. “I’m happy just to be able to get a refinance and lower my mortgage payment,” said Rapaport, 57, who owns a 2-bedroom townhome in San Diego, where home prices have dropped 32% since June 2006. He is saving $264 a month with the new mortgage from CMG Mortgage, meaning it will take about a year to recoup the fees he paid.”  The Chicago Sun warned that homeowners need to be careful when getting a refinance loan.