Mortgage applications slowed from the holiday week, though activity improved when seasonal factors are disregarded. Refinances slowed despite a widening share.
The Market Composite Index for the seven days ended Sept. 15 was down by a tenth after adjusting for the Labor Day holiday the previous week.
But without any seasonal adjustments,
the index — a measure of retail residential loan application volume — ascended 12 percent from the week ended Sept. 8.
The details were included in
the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The survey from the Washington trade group reportedly covers more than three-quarters of all applications.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, applications for purchase-money loans sank 11 percent. But without any adjustments, purchase activity ascended 10 percent and was up 2 percent from the same week last year.
MBA reported a 9 percent decline from the week ended Sept. 8 for refinance applications. Refinance share widened to 52.1 percent
– the widest share since the week ended Jan. 13 when it was 53.0 percent. The share was more narrow, though, than 63.1 percent in the week ended Sept. 16, 2016.
While the refinance numbers are typically not seasonally adjusted, MBA Assistant Vice President Industry Surveys and Forecasting Joel Kan clarified in a written statement that a holiday adjustment was made in this report.
“On an unadjusted basis, the purchase index increased 9.5 percent, and the refi index increased 14.4 percent, so refis grew more than purchase, increasing the refi share,” Kan said. “The 9 percent decline in refi quoted [above] was for the adjusted refi index, takes into account the previous week’s holiday adjustment, which was done to both purchase and refi indexes.”
No change from the preceding week was noted for the share of Federal Housing Administration applications, which stood at 9.9 percent. FHA share was thinner than 10.2 percent in the same-seven days last year.
The share for Department of Veterans Affairs applications was 10.1 percent, more narrow than 10.3 percent in the last report and 11.6 percent during the same week a year ago.
Applications for adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 6.8 percent of all applications. ARM share widened from 6.7 percent a week earlier and 4.4 percent a year earlier.
At 3.99 percent, interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 5 basis points less than conforming rates. The jumbo-conforming spread widened from a negative 3 BPS the prior week and a negative 1 basis point a year prior.
