Purchases Lead Weekly Mortgage Applications Lower

A more than 4 percent seasonally adjusted deceleration from the preceding week was recorded for the Market Composite Index for the week ended Feb. 9.

But when seasonal factors are discounted, the index — a measure of retail residential loan applications — was off just 2 percent from the seven days that concluded on Feb. 2.

The index was reported Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group derived the findings from its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, which reportedly covers more than 75 percent of all applications.

MBA reported that refinance applications fell 2 percent. Refinance share,
meantime, was 46.5 percent, slightly more broad than 46.4 percent a week earlier but a bit more narrow than 46.9 percent a year earlier.

Applications for loans to finance a home purchase retreated a seasonally adjusted 6 percent from the last report. The week-over-week decline in purchase applications was just 3 percent without seasonal adjustments, while there was a 4 percent year-over-year increase recorded.

Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration represented 10.1 percent of total business, more narrow than 10.4 percent in last week’s report and 11.9 percent in the same week a year ago.

At 10.1 percent, the share of applications for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs
was the same as one week previous. VA share, however, has dropped from 11.8 percent one year earlier.

Including
applications for USDA loans, government share in the latest report was 21.0 percent — thinning each week since the week ended Jan. 12, when it was 23.2 percent.

Applications for adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 6.3 percent of the most-recent activity. ARM share
widened from 6.1 percent the preceding week but was more sparse than 7.5 percent in the week ended Feb. 9, 2017.