Mortgage App Volume Inches Up on Refi Uptick: MBA

A slight uptick in refinances led to a similarly small increase in mortgage applications from last week, according to data released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey's market composite index increased 0.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week. The refinance and purchase indexes both rose by a seasonally adjusted 1%.

As a share of overall mortgage activity, refinances increased to 64% from 63.5% a week earlier. Meanwhile, the adjustable-rate mortgage, FHA and VA shares of applications all fell.

The FHA share dropped to 9.5% from 9.7% last week, while the VA share slipped to 11.9% from 12.5%. The ARM share meanwhile decreased to 4.3% of applications, and the USDA share remained unchanged at 0.6%.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 3.68% from 3.67%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances increased 3 basis points to 3.66%.

Conversely, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA had its average contract rate decrease 2 basis points to 3.52%. The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs similarly dropped 3 basis points to 2.87%.

The only loan type to see no change in its average rate was the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, which remained unchanged at 2.96%.

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