Although interest rates on residential loans have increased to the highest level in nearly three years, mortgage applications rose with refinances leading the way.
After making adjustments for seasonal factors, the Market Composite Index for the week that ended on March 10 moved up 3 percent from the prior week.
Without making any seasonal adjustments, the index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — increased 4 percent from the week ended March 3.
The index was derived from the
Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey reported Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The survey reportedly covers more than three-quarters of all residential retail loan applications.
Applications to refinance a mortgage
increased 4 percent on a week-over-week basis. Refinance share, meanwhile, widened to 45.6 percent from 45.4 percent a week earlier but thinned from 55.0 percent a year earlier.
The report indicated that applications to finance a home purchase inched up 2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week. On an unadjusted basis, purchase business was up 3 percent and moved 6 percent higher than the same week in 2016.
Mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration represented a smaller portion of total applications, with FHA share thinning to 11.1 percent from 11.8 percent the prior week and 11.7 percent a year prior.
Similarly, the share of applications for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs contracted to 11.1 percent from 11.6 percent a week previous and
12.3 percent a year previous.
MBA noted that interest rates on conforming loans have risen to the highest level since April 2014
Rates on jumbo mortgages were 2 basis points lower than conforming rates, The jumbo-conforming spread
was slashed from a negative 9 BPS in the previous report and a negative 8 BPS the same week last year.
Applications for adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 8.2 percent of the latest activity — the widest share since October 2014. ARM share
was more broad than 7.7 percent in the last report and 4.9 percent twelve months earlier.
