Refinancing Energizes Latest Mortgage Application Data

Refinancing activity outpaced purchase loans in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Nov. 10.

 

The Market Composite Index, was up by 3.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and up by two percent on an unadjusted basis from one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index was only up by 0.4 percent from one week earlier while the unadjusted Purchase Index dropped by three percent compared with the previous week, although it was 17 percent higher than the same week one year ago. But the real energy came from the refi side: The Refinance Index increased six percent from the previous week to its highest level since October and the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to its highest level since September, 51.3 percent of total applications, from 49 percent the previous week.

 

Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 10.2 percent from 10.6 percent the week prior while the VA share of total applications increased to 10.1 percent from 10 percent and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from the week prior at 0.7 percent.

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