The volume of mortgage applications declined during
the week ended July 28. There were fewer applications for both purchase
mortgages and refinancing than during the week ended July 21.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market
Composite Index, a measure of that volume, decreased 2.8 percent on a
seasonally adjusted basis and 3 percent unadjusted. The Refinance Index was down 4 percent and
the share of total applications that were for refinancing pulled back from 46.0
percent to 45.5 percent.
The volume of purchase mortgages was down 2 percent both
seasonally adjusted and unadjusted. This
put the unadjusted Purchase Index at its lowest level since March, but it
remained 9 percent higher than during the same week in 2016.
Refi Index vs 30yr Fixed
Purchase Index vs 30yr Fixed
The share of applications that were for FHA loans
ticked up to 10.3 percent from 10.2 percent the previous week and the VA portion
declined to 10.1 percent from 10.5 percent.
USDA applications accounted for 0.8 percent of the total, unchanged from
the previous week.
Interest rates were mixed. The average contract interest rate for
30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances of $424,100 or
less was unchanged at 4.17 percent, with points decreasing to 0.36 from 0.40. The
effective rate was lower than the previous week.
Thirty-year jumbo FRM, loans with balances above
the conforming limit, had an average rate of 4.11 percent, 5 basis points
higher than the previous week. Points increased to 0.25 from 0.24 and the
effective rate increased.
The average contract rate for 30-year FRM backed
by the FHA rose to 4.07 percent from 4.05 percent. Points decreased to 0.35
from 0.44, pulling the effective rate lower than the prior week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRM
was unchanged at 3.45 percent, with points decreasing to 0.44 from 0.45. The effective rate was also unchanged.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable
rate mortgages (ARMs) rose 1 basis point to 3.30 percent and points increased
to 0.29 from 0.26. The effective rate moved higher. The ARM share of applications
decreased to 6.6 percent from 6.8 percent previous week.
MBA's Weekly
Mortgage Applications Survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers over 75
percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications. Respondents include mortgage bankers,
commercial banks and thrifts. Base
period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100 and interest rate
information is based on loans with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio and points
that include the origination fee.