Mortgage Apps Dip 0.7 Percent

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Application Survey reported a 0.7% decrease in applications on an adjusted basis for the week ending Oct. 9, 2020. On an unadjusted basis, mortgage applications dipped 1%.

According to the survey, the Refinance Index decreased by 0.3% from the previous week and was 44% higher than the same week in 2019, the Purchase Index decreased by 2% on an adjusted basis and 1% on an unadjusted basis. It stands at 24% higher than the same week in 2019.

"Mortgage applications for refinances and home purchases both decreased slightly last week, despite the 30-year fixed mortgage rate declining to a new MBA survey low of 3.00 percent. Applications for government mortgages offset some of the overall decline by increasing 3 percent, driven by a solid gain in government purchase applications and an 11 percent jump in VA refinance applications," said Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting. "Refinance and purchase activity continues to run well ahead of last year's pace, fueled by record-low rates and strong homebuyer demand. Housing supply is a challenge for many aspiring buyers, but activity should continue to stay strong the rest of the year."

The WMAS also reported that the refinance share of mortgage activity slightly increased to 65.6% from 65.4% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity decreased to 2% of all applications, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 10.7% from 11% the previous week, the VA share increased to 13.4% from 12.2% and the USDA share slightly increased from 0.5% to 0.6%.

Read more from the MBA's WMAS.