As weekly mortgage applications dropped off, the share of activity that was represented by government insured loans thinned for the third consecutive week.
The Market Composite Index for the week that ended on March 17, 2017, moved lower by a seasonally adjusted 3 percent compared to one week earlier.
Foregoing seasonal adjustments, the index, a representation of retail residential loan application volume, retreated 2 percent from the week ended March 10.
The index is derived from the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey published by the Mortgage Bankers Association reportedly based on a survey of three-quarters of all mortgage applications.
A 3 percent week-over-week decline was recorded for refinance applications, which accounted for 45.1 percent of all applications. Refinance share thinned from 45.6 percent a week earlier
and 53.9 percent a year earlier.
Applications for loans to finance a home purchase dipped a seasonally adjusted 2 percent. Without any adjustments for seasonal factors, purchase applications
were still down 2 percent but increased 5 percent from the week ended March 18, 2016.
MBA reported that 10.9 percent of all applications were for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. FHA share was reduced from 11.1 percent a week prior and has narrowed each week since Feb. 24, when the share was 12.3 percent. FHA share was 11.8 percent twelve months prior.
The share of applications for mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs thinned to 10.1 percent from 11.1 percent the previous week and 12.6 percent a year previous.
The report indicated that the Government Refinance Index dropped 12 percent to the lowest level since December 2014.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were were 6 basis points less than conforming rates, according to the trade group. The jumbo-conforming spread widened from a negative 2 BPS in the last report but was more narrow than 8 BPS in the report from the same week in 2016.
Adjustable-rate mortgage applications made up 9.0 percent of total activity — the fattest share since October 2014. ARM share
widened from 8.2 percent the previous week and nearly doubled from 4.9 percent the same week the previous year.
