While overall applications for new home loans barely changed last week, more prospective borrowers were applying for purchase financing.
In the week ended March 4, new residential loan applications
taken by mortgage originators were up 0.2 percent from a week earlier.
That was according to the Market Composite Index. The seasonally adjusted index is a measure of mortgage loan application volume.
The index is part of the
Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The survey reportedly covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail home loan applications.
Without any
seasonal adjustments, the index increased 1 percent.
Applications for mortgage refinances declined 2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. At the same time, refinance share fell to 56.7 percent from 58.6 percent the previous week.
But unlike refinances, the Purchase Index moved up 4 percent from the week ended Feb. 28 — the highest level since January.
On an unadjusted basis, purchase applications increased 6 percent from a week earlier and 30 percent from a year earlier.
At 12.0 percent, the share of applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration has been unchanged for two consecutive weeks.
Applications for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs made up 12.6 percent of overall application volume. VA share widened from 12.1 percent in the previous report.
MBA reported that adjustable-rate mortgage applications represented 5.2 of the latest activity.
ARM share contracted from 5.6 percent in the last report.
Jumbo interest rates were eight basis points lower than conforming rates in MBA’s most-recent report, the same as one week earlier.
