Mortgage Applications on the Upswing

The groundhog may be forecasting six more weeks of winter, but that chilly prediction failed to freeze mortgage application activity.

 

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Feb. 3, the Market Composite Index increased 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and increased six percent on an unadjusted basis from one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index was up percent from one week earlier, while the unadjusted index climbed nine percent compared and was four percent higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index increased two percent from the previous week, but the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased from 49.4 percent to 47.9 percent of total applications, its lowest level since June 2009.

 

Among the government home loan programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 11.9 percent from 12.1 percent the week prior while the VA share of total applications increased to 12.7 percent from 12.4 percent and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.9 percent.