Mortgage Applications Fall in MBA Weekly Survey
Mortgage applications fell last week for the first time in a month, despite key interest rates falling to four-month lows, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 29.
The previous week’s results included an adjustment for the Martin Luther King holiday.
The Market Composite Index decreased by 2.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased by 11 percent compared to the previous week.
The Refinance Index increased by 0.3 percent from the previous week to its highest level since October. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 59.2 percent of total applications from 59.0 percent the previous week.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 7 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased by 11 percent compared to the previous week and was 17 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
The FHA share of total applications increased to 12.9 percent from 12.7 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications remained unchanged from 11.1 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.7 percent the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to its lowest level since October, 3.97 percent, from 4.02 percent, with points increasing to 0.41 from 0.40 (including origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans. This is the fourth straight weekly decrease for this rate. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) decreased to its lowest level since April, 3.84 percent, from 3.89 percent, with points increasing to 0.26 from 0.25 (including origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. This is the fourth straight weekly decrease for this rate. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by FHA decreased to 3.80 percent from 3.83 percent, with points decreasing to 0.35 from 0.38 (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 decreased to 3.22 percent from 3.28 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.37 (including origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages decreased to 3.00 percent from 3.09 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.34 (including origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The ARM share of activity decreased to 5.9 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.
