Slight Decline in Weekly Mortgage Market Index

Slight Decline in Weekly Mortgage Market Index


DALLAS — (Oct. 21 2013) The government shutdown and reopening had little impact on new mortgage business last week. But interest rates were slightly higher.

The U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter and Mortgage Daily closed out last week at 176. The index reflects average per-user pricing inquiries at LoanSifter, a pricing engine.

Business slipped 1 percent from seven days earlier and tumbled 37 percent from 12 months earlier. Year-earlier statistics were revised to reflect numbers from the same data provider.

Likely reflecting the government shutdown, inquiries for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration took the biggest hit for the week ended Oct. 18, falling 3 percent from the previous report. FHA business has plunged 41 percent from the same week in 2012.

FHA share drifted down to 15.1 percent from 15.4 percent in the week ended Oct. 11 and declined 16.0 percent from one year prior.

The next biggest hit was with jumbo loans, with inquiries falling more than 1 percent from a week prior. But jumbo activity has increased 18 percent from a year prior. Jumbo share was little changed on a week-over-week basis at 7.6 percent but has soared from 4.0 percent in the week ended Oct. 19, 2012.

Jumbo mortgages were priced at a 32-basis-point premium to conforming loans. The jumbo-conforming spread was little changed from 31 BPS in the prior report but much better than the 48-basis-point spread during the same week in the prior year.

A decline of slightly more than 1 percent was recorded for refinances, though the category plummeted 59 percent from the same week last year — the worst year-over-year performance.

Refinance share was about the same as in the previous report at 50.9 percent but has retreated significantly from 77.3 percent 12 months earlier. The latest share consisted of a 36.9 percent rate-term share and a 14.0 percent cashout share.

Inquiries for purchase financing were off less than 1 percent for the week, though purchase business has increased 36 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Statistically, there was no change from the last report for conventional loans, though conventional inquiries have tumbled 42 percent over the previous year.

The only category to record a gain, albeit ever so slightly, was the adjustable-rate mortgage category — which inched up 1 percent from seven days prior. ARM activity has soared 80 percent from 12 months prior — the biggest gain of any loan type.

Thirty-year conventional fixed rates averaged 4.524 percent, barely changed from 4.523 percent. But the 30 year was up 91 BPS from the same week in 2012.

Price quotes for 15-year mortgages were 92 BPS less than for 30-year loans, improving from the 90-basis-point spread in the previous report and far better than the 63-basis-point discount for shorter-term loans in the year-earlier report.