Mortgage Applications on the Decline

Few people are seeking out home loans, according to Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Feb. 16.

 

The Market Composite Index dropped by 6.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and by 3 percent on an unadjusted basis from one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased six percent from one week earlier, although the unadjusted Purchase Index increased one percent compared with the previous week and was three percent higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index decreased seven percent from the previous week and the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to its lowest level since July 2017, with 44.4 percent of total applications versus 46.5 percent in the previous week.

 

Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 9.9 percent from 10.1 percent the week prior and the VA share of total applications decreased to 10.0 percent from 10.1 percent while the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.8 percent.

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