Thanks to the holiday last week and improving interest rates, new mortgage activity picked up this week. Government activity showed the greatest improvement.
A 2 percent increase from a week earlier, which included Veterans Day, left the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter and Mortgage Daily for the week ended Nov. 22 at 171.
The index was even up 4 percent from the same week in 2012 — though the year earlier week included the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The numbers from a year prior were revised to reflect statistics from the same data provider.
The biggest week-over-week increase in the latest report was for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which were 26 percent busier than the week ended Nov. 15. FHA activity was down, however, 31 percent from a year earlier.
FHAÂ share jumped to 20.3 percent from 16.5 percent in the last report and 16.2 percent 12 months prior.
Pricing inquiries for purchase financing rose 8 percent and soared 131 percent from the week ended Nov. 23, 2012.
Conventional business slipped 2 percent and was 8 percent worse than the same week last year.
A 5 percent decline was recorded for refinances, and the category has tumbled 36 percent from one year ago. Refinance share was cut to 47.2 percent from 50.4 percent and has plunged from 76.3 percent this week in 2012. The most recent refinance share included a 31.5 percent rate-term share and a 15.7 percent cashout share.
Inquiries for adjustable-rate mortgages sank 41 percent but have soared 106 percent from a year earlier. ARM share plunged to 6.7 percent from 11.5 percent but was up from 3.4 percent at the same point in 2012.
Jumbo mortgages took the biggest hit in the latest report, sinking 48 percent. But jumbo activity was only off 8 percent from a year ago. Jumbo share was slashed to 4.0 percent from 7.8 percent in the previous report. In the same week last year, jumbo share was 4.6 percent.
The premium for a jumbo mortgage jumped to 35 basis points this week from 23 BPS in the previous report. But the jumbo-conforming spread still sits below the 43 BPS in place 12 months prior.
Thirty-year conforming fixed rates averaged 4.521 percent, easing from 4.558 percent. The average was only 3.618 percent a year earlier.
Fifteen-year loans were priced 95 BPS better than 30-year mortgages, improving from the 93-basis-point spread in the last report. The spread was 60 BPS this week in 2012.
In next week’s report, mortgage rates are likely to be about the same as this week, according to an analysis of this week’s Treasury market activity.
A benchmark for mortgage rates, the yield on the 10-year Treasury, averaged 2.74 percent during the period covered by the latest report, according to Treasury Department data. The 10-year yield closed at 2.75 percent Friday.
