Mortgage applications increased 2.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Jan. 3, 2014. The most recent week’s results include an adjustment to account for the New Year’s Day holiday, while the previous week’s results were adjusted for the Christmas holiday.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 2.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 45 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased five percent from the previous week after falling by nine percent the week prior. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased one percent from one week earlier but increased two percent the week prior. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 42 percent compared with the previous week and was 20 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 63 percent of total applications from the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at eight percent of total applications.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) remained unchanged at 4.72 percent, with points unchanged at 0.28 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) remained unchanged at 4.66 percent, with points decreasing to 0.12 from 0.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTVs. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 4.36 percent from 4.35 percent, with points unchanged at 0.15 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTVs. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.77 percent from 3.73 percent, with points decreasing to 0.34 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTVs. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.33 percent from 3.31 percent, with points decreasing to 0.44 from 0.46 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTVs. The effective rate increased from last week.
