With 30-year rates so low, is it a farewell to ARMs?(adjustable-rate mortgages)

With the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share in last week's Mortgage Banker's Association (MBA) Refinancing Index declining to 13.4% from 16.5%, analysts are starting to call for a reversal of the ARM effect.

A JPMorgan Securities report released last Wednesday said the ARM share of refinancings - though remaining high at the 22.7% level - dropped again in terms of dollar volume. Analysts from the firm expect the ARM share to settle at the 15% to 20% level.

Researchers at Countrywide Securities Corp. noted that the flatter Treasury curve, wider ARM spreads (due to supply concerns) as well as the new lows seen in fixed-rate mortgages have made fixed-rate …