A spike in applications to refinance home loans helped push up the overall volume of weekly applications for residential loans.
A nine percent week-over-week improvement was recorded for the Market Composite Index during the week ended Jan. 15.
The application index, reportedly a measure of mortgage loan application volume, is adjusted to account for seasonal variations.
Foregoing any seasonal adjustments, the index was up 12 percent from the week ended Jan. 8.
The Market Composite Index is reported as part of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Applications for refinances climbed 19 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis as refinance share widened to 59.1 percent from 55.8 percent.
Purchase applications, however, were two percent slower than in the previous week — though without any seasonal adjustments purchase applications increased four percent and were 17 percent higher than in the same week last year.
Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration made up 13.7 percent of total activity. FHA share was cut from 14.4 percent one week prior.
Loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs were the target of 10.8 percent of total applications. VA share thinned from 12.2 percent the previous week.
Fixed jumbo rates were 13 basis points less than interest rates on conforming mortgages. The jumbo-conforming spread
widened from a negative 10 BPS in the last report.
Adjustable-rate mortgage share was six percent, the same as one week previous.
