| COFI
ARM Cost of Funds Index
The 11th District Cost of Funds is more prevalent in the West and the 1-Year Treasury Security is more prevalent in the East. Buyers prefer the slowly moving 11th District Cost of Funds and investors prefer the 1-Year Treasury Security. The monthly
weighted average Eleventh District has been published by the Federal
Home Loan Bank of San Francisco since August 1981. Currently more
than one half of the savings institutions loans made in California are
tied to the 11th District Cost of Funds (COF) index. The Federal
Home Loan Bank's 11th District is comprised of saving institutions in
Arizona, California and Nevada. Few people who use and follow the 11th District Cost of Funds understand exactly how it is calculated, what it represents, how it moves and what factors affect it. The predecessor
to the 11th District Cost of Funds index was the District semiannual weighted
average cost of funds published for a six month period ending in June
and December. The San Francisco Bank was the first Federal Home Loan Bank
to publish a monthly cost of funds index. The funds used as a basis for the calculation of the 11th District Cost of Funds index are the liabilities at the District savings institutions: money on deposit at the institutions, money borrowed from a Federal Home Loan Bank (known as advances) and all other money borrowed. The interest paid on these types of funds is the cost of these funds The ratio of the dollar amount paid in interest during the month to the average dollar amount of the funds for that month constitutes the weighted average cost of funds ratio for that month. The average
cost of funds is said to be weighted because the three kinds of funds
and their costs are added together before a ratio is computed rather than
calculating averages individually for the three sources and using a simple
average of the three ratios. This gives the greatest weight to the interest
paid on deposits, and explains the delayed reaction of the index to rising
fixed-rate mortgages.
|