Mortgage Apps Rise as Rates See Decline
Mortgage applications increased 4.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 3, 2015. This week’s results included an adjustment for the July 4th holiday. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 4.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased six percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased three percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased seven percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased four percent compared with the previous week and was 32 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 48.0 percent of total applications, its lowest level since June 2009, from 48.9 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.1 percent of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 13.7 percent from 14 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications remained unchanged at 10.8 percent from the week prior. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.9 percent from 1.0 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 4.23 percent from 4.26 percent, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) 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 $417,000) decreased to 4.18 percent from 4.21 percent, with points decreasing to 0.30 from 0.38 (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 the FHA decreased to 4.01 percent from 4.04 percent, with points remaining unchanged from 0.18 (including the 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 3.41 percent from 3.44 percent, with points remaining unchanged from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.03 percent from 3.09 percent, with points decreasing to 0.37 from 0.45 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.