New applications for residential loans moved higher in the latest seven-day period. Purchase-money activity was out front of the weekly increase.
A seasonally adjusted 6 percent increase from the previous week was recorded for the Market Composite Index for the week ended Feb. 24.
Without seasonal adjustments, the index — a measure of mortgage application volume — fell 3 percent from the week that included Presidents Day.
The index was included in the
Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Applications to refinance an existing residential loan were up 5 percent from the last report. Meanwhile, refinance share thinned to 45.1 percent — the most narrow share since November 2008. Refinance share was 46.2 percent a week earlier and
58.6 percent a year earlier.
MBA reported that
applications for loans to finance a home purchase jumped 7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week ended Feb. 17, 2017. Foregoing seasonal factors, purchase activity slipped 1 percent and was down 5 percent from the week ended Feb. 26, 2016.
The share of applications that was for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration was 12.3 percent, widening from 11.6 percent in the last report. FHA share was also fatter than 12.0 percent the same week in 2016.
Another
11.7 percent of applications were for mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA share thinned from 12.1 percent the prior week and a year prior.
The jumbo conforming spread
was a negative 7 basis points, unchanged from the previous week. But the jumbo-conforming spread was modestly thinner than in the same week in 2016, when jumbo rates were 8 BPS less than conforming rates.
Applications for adjustable-rate mortgages
represented 7.3 percent of the latest week’s activity. Although ARM share was unchanged from the prior report, it was broader than 5.6 percent a year prior.
