Applications for both purchase and refinance mortgages declined during the week ended February 10 compared to activity a week earlier.  The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composite Index, a measure of applications volume, was down 3.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the week ended February 3 and was 1 percent lower unadjusted.

The share of refinancing slipped by 1 percentage point, the fourth consecutive week it has fallen, reaching 46.9 percent of all mortgage applications, the lowest share since June 2009.  The Refinance Index decreased 3 percent from the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index fell by 5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis but remained 1 percent higher than the week before when unadjusted and 3 percent higher than the same week in 2016.  

The FHA share of total applications was unchanged from the prior week at 11.9 percent.  The VA share fell to 11.8 percent from 12.7 percent and the USDA share inched up to 1.0 percent from 0.9 percent.  

Both contract and effective interest rates were mixed.  The average contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) decreased to 4.32 percent from 4.35 percent.  Points were unchanged 0.34 and the effective rate decreased.  

The average rate for 30-year FRM with jumbo loan balances (greater than $424,100) was 4.28 percent, a 1 basis point increase from the week before.  Points dropped to 0.27 from 0.31 and the effective rate was unchanged.

FHA- backed 30-year FRM had an average rate of 4.12 percent with 0.31 point.  The previous week the rate was 4.16 percent with 0.37 point.  The effective rate was also down.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRM remained unchanged at 3.55 percent, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.34.  The effective rate was also unchanged.  

The share of adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) rose from 6.9 percent to 7.5 percent, the highest share of activity for ARMs since October 2015.  The average interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.34 percent from 3.39 percent, and points increased to 0.19 from 0.18. The effective rate was also lower than the prior week.

MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100 and interest rate data is based on mortgages with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio and points that include the origination fee.