COFI Dips to New Low

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index stood at 1.811% in January, a decline of 9 basis points and a new record low.In December 2003 the index stood at 1.902%, up from 1.821% in November, the first time the index had increased since June 2002. COFI is a weighted average of the cost of mortgage money (including deposits) paid by member institutions. Typically it lags other rates by three to six months, so trends can be seen by observing the activity of other rates. According to data collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the nationwide secondary-market rate for the one-month certificate of deposit was 1.05% in July. The index went up 2 bps in August, held steady in September, fell 1 bp in October, and held steady before rising 3 bps in December. However, in January the index fell 5 bps to 1.04%. While the three-month and six-month CD rates trended upward in the fall months, they too declined by 4 and 5 bps, respectively, in January.