A decline in applications for purchase financing was more than offset by acceleration in applications for mortgage refinances.
During the week that ended on June 17, the Market Composite Index came in 3 percent higher than it did one week earlier.
The weekly index, which was adjusted in order to reflect seasonal factors, is
a measure of residential loan application volume.
The index is part of the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association and reportedly covers more than three-quarters of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.
When no seasonal adjustments are made, the index was still up 2 percent from the week ended June 10.
Applications for refinances climbed 7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the last report.
Refinance share was 57.7 percent, wider than 55.3 the previous week
and 49.0 percent the same week during the previous year.
But purchase activity slowed by
2 percent on a week-over-week basis. Without seasonal adjustments, purchase applications dropped 4 percent — though they were up 12 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Adjustable-rate mortgage activity made up 5.7 percent of total applications. ARM share was thicker than 5.3 percent in the last report
but slimmed down from 7.0 percent in the year-earlier report.
The share of applications that were for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration was trimmed to 11.7 percent from 11.8 percent seven days prior and 13.9 percent twelve months prior.
Applications for mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs accounted for 11.1 percent of weekly business, the same as in the previous report
and slightly more than 10.9 percent in the year-previous report.
Jumbo interest rates were 6 basis points less than conforming rates in the latest survey. The jumbo-conforming spread widened from 4 BPS a week earlier
and 5 BPS a year earlier.
MBA noted that fixed rates on 30-year conforming loans were lower than they’ve been during any week since May 2013.
