Applications Down 5th Straight Week in MBA Weekly Survey
Mortgage applications fell for the fifth straight week to their lowest levels since February, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 10.
The Market Composite Index decreased by 2.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased by 3 percent compared to the previous week.
The (unadjusted) Refinance Index remained unchanged from the previous week. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 37.6 percent of total applications from 36.6 percent the previous week.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased by 4 percent compared to the previous week and was 3 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
The FHA share of total applications remained unchanged from 10.4 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications remained unchanged from 10.6 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.8 percent the week prior.
“Strong inflation was overshadowed by ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, along with concerns over Turkey’s currency situation,” said Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “This helped push Treasury rates down by 3 basis points last week. The 30-year fixed rate decreased 3 basis points as well, but mortgage applications still decreased.”
MBA reported the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) decreased to 4.81 percent from 4.84 percent, with points decreasing to 0.43 from 0.45 (including origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $453,100) decreased to 4.73 percent from 4.74 percent, with points decreasing to 0.29 from 0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by FHA decreased to 4.77 percent from 4.83 percent, with points decreasing to 0.68 from 0.76 (including origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.27 percent from 4.26 percent, with points increasing to 0.52 from 0.48 (including origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages decreased to 4.06 percent from 4.07 percent, with points increasing to 0.48 from 0.42 (including origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The ARM share of activity decreased to 6.2 percent of total applications.
The survey covers more than 75 percent of all U.S. retail and consumer direct residential mortgage applications and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.
