The latest mortgage industry data offered downward movement in regard to rates and home loan applications.
Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.52 percent for the week ending July 5,
down from last week when it averaged 4.55 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.99 percent,
down from last week when it averaged 4.04 percent. And the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.74 percent this week,
down from last week when it averaged 3.87 percent.
“The run-up in mortgage rates earlier this year represented not just a rise in risk-free borrowing costs, but for investors, the mortgage spread also rose back to more normal levels by about 20 basis points,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “What that means for buyers is good news. Mortgage rates may have a little more room to decline over the very short term. Although the current economic expansion is in its 10th year, residential single-family real estate was initially slow to recover. Now, backed by the demographic tailwind provided by millennials reaching the peak age to buy their first home, the housing market should have some room to grow going forward.”
Separately, the
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) coverage of home loan applications for the week ending June 29 has found the Market Composite Index dipped by 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, while the unadjusted index was one percent lower. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased one percent from one week earlier, while the unadjusted index was unchanged from the previous week and was one percent lower than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index decreased two percent from the previous week and the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 37.2 percent of total applications from 37.6 percent the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications remained unchanged at 10.2 percent from the week prior while the VA share of total applications remained unchanged at 10.7 percent and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.8 percent.
