WASHINGTON–Mortgage applications increased 11.3% last week over one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 28, 2015.
The MBA’s Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 11.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 10% compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 17% from the previous week to its highest level since April 2015, the MBA said. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 4% from one week earlier to its highest level since July 2015. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2% compared with the previous week and was 25% higher than the same week one year ago.
"Although mortgage rates were unchanged for the week, Treasury rates were down sharply early in the week due to the global stock market rout and this led to a significant increase in application volume," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's chief economist, in a statement.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 58.7% of total applications from 55.3% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 7.5% of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 12.7% from 13.1% the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 9.8% from 11.4% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.7% from 0.8% the week prior, according to the MBA.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) remained unchanged at 4.08%, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to 4.05% from 4.00%, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.24 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.