WASHINGTON–Mortgage applications decreased 4% from one week earlier, according to the newest numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications.
The MBA reported its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the MBA said the Index was down 5% compared with the previous week. Meanwhile, the Refinance Index decreased 4% from the previous week, as did the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index from one week earlier. It hit its lowest level since February 2016, but remained 10% higher than the same week last year. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 5% compared with the previous week, the MBA said.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 62.6% of total applications from 62.4% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 4.6% of total applications, according to the MBA data.
The Mortgage Bankers reported the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 3.64% from 3.65%, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
According to the MBA, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) decreased to 3.60% from 3.64%, with points decreasing to 0.28 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.49% from 3.52%, with points decreasing to 0.28 from 0.33 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
Finally, the MBA reported the average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages had slid to 2.90% from 2.93%, with points also down a smidge to 0.32 from 0.34 (including origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.