Mortgage applications increased 0.7% from last week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 24.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, inched up 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 20% compared with the previous week.
Other adjustments included the Refinance Index, which increased 2% from the previous week and was 80% lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.1% from one week earlier, but the unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 21% compared with the previous week and was 24% lower than the same week one year ago.
“Mortgage rates continue to experience large swings. After increasing 65 basis points during the past three weeks, the 30-year fixed rate declined 14 basis points last week to 5.84%. Rates are still significantly higher than they were a year ago, when the 30-year fixed rate was at 3.2%,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “The decline in mortgage rates led to a slight increase in refinancing, driven by an uptick in conventional loans. However, refinances are still 80% lower than a year ago and more than 60% below the historical average.”
Kan referenced the refinance share of mortgage activity, which increased to 30.3% of total applications from 29.7% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 10.1% of total applications.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $647,200 or less, decreased to 5.84% from 5.98%, with points decreasing to 0.64 from 0.77. The effective rate decreased from last week.
Other takeaways:
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances greater than $647,200 decreased to 5.42% from 5.49%, with points decreasing to 0.28 from 0.45
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA remained at a stable 5.62%, with points decreasing to 1.15 from 1.18.
- The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages slightly increased to 5.06% from 5.05%, with points decreasing to 0.72 from 0.86
- The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 4.64% from 4.78%, with points decreasing to 0.72 from 0.84.
