11th District Cost of Funds

11th District Cost of Funds: A monthly cost-of-funds index (COFI) that indicates the weighted-average interest rate paid by 11th Federal Home Loan Bank District savings institutions for savings and checking accounts. The 11th district covers Arizona, California and Nevada. The index is published on the last day of the month and shows the cost of funds for the prior month. It’s an index that is used to set the cost of variable-rate loans, such as an adjustable-rate mortgage. Lenders use such an index, which varies, to adjust interest rates as economic conditions change. They then add a certain number of percentage points called a margin, which doesn’t vary, to the index to establish the interest rate you must pay. When this index goes up, interest rates on any loans tied to it also go up. COFI usually lags market interest rates in both up and down markets. That means loans tied to this index rise and fall more slowly than rates in general. The 11th District Cost of Funds is often used as an index for adjustable rate mortgages.
See also: Fed Funds Rate, Federal Discount Rate, Wall Street Journal Prime Rate