New residential lending activity made a healthy gain following the holiday week. Even more impressive was skyrocketing adjustable-rate mortgage activity.
A barometer of upcoming loan originations, the Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily, was 172 in the week ended July 14. The index is based on rate-lock volume at OpenClose.
The index, which was not adjusted to account for seasonal factors, soared 61 percent from the previous week that included the July Fourth holiday.
Still, despite the bump in business, activity eased 18 percent versus the same week last year.
Out front of the week-over-week improvement were rate locks for ARMs, which increased 116 percent. ARM rate locks ascended by a quarter from the week ended July 15, 2016. ARM share ballooned to 9.8 percent from 7.3 percent a week earlier and 6.4 percent a year earlier.
A 78 percent increase from the week ended July 7, 2017, was recorded for refinance activity. Refinances sank, though, 35 percent from 12 months ago.
Refinance share widened to 30.8 percent from the prior week’s 27.9 percent but thinned from 39.0 percent a year prior. This week’s share consisted of a 13.5 percent rate-term share and a 17.3 percent cashout share.
The Conventional MMI climbed 70 percent from the last report to 105.
At 119, the Purchase MMI was 55 percent higher than in the preceding week but 7 percent lower than the same week in 2016.
Rate locks for government mortgages were up by half versus the last report, leaving the Government MMI at 67. Government share, meantime, shrunk to 39.0 percent from 41.9 percent. This week’s share was comprised of a 29.6 percent FHA share and a 9.4 percent VA share.
Jumbo business was the only category to see a decline from the previous report: 2 percent. Jumbo activity has slowed by 45 percent from a one year earlier. Jumbo share was slashed to 5.8 percent from 9.5 percent in the previous seven-day period and 8.6 percent in the same seven days in 2016. The jumbo-conforming spread was 10 basis points, more narrow than 17 BPS the preceding week and 14 BPS in the same week the preceding year.
