Although there was a decline in overall new mortgage activity during the past seven days, demand for new purchase-money mortgages actually grew stronger.
At
166, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from OpenClose and Mortgage Daily for the week ended Sept. 16 was off less than 2 percent from one week prior.
The decline in the MMI, which is based average per-user rate locks submitted by OpenClose clients, is an indication that upcoming loan originations will retreat.
Given that there was no seasonal adjustment for the holiday during the prior week, the current week’s decline was even more substantial.
But the index, which reflects activity during the seven days ended on Thursday at midnight, has risen by 19 percent when compared to the same week last year.
The Refinance MMI had the biggest decline from the previous week: 12 percent. But refinance rate locks have soared 68 percent from the revised level for the week ended Sept. 18, 2015.
Refinance share thinned to 39.6 percent from 44.5 percent a week earlier but fattened from a revised 28.1 percent a year earlier. The latest share was comprised of a 25.5 percent rate-term share and a 14.1 percent cashout share.
Rate locks for jumbo mortgages were down 6 percent from the week ended Sept. 9, 2016, and 7 percent from the same week last year. Jumbo share was trimmed to 10.6 percent from 11.2 percent and was also cut from 13.7 percent this week in 2015.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 6 basis points more than conforming rates. The jumbo-conforming spread widened from 3 BPS one week earlier but was slashed from 22 BPS one year earlier.
A 3 percent week-over-week decline was recorded for conventional rate locks.
Government business rose 2 percent from the previous report. Government share was slightly thicker at 29.8 percent versus 28.8 percent in the report from seven days ago. The most-current government share consisted of a 22.7 percent FHA share and a 7.1 percent VA share.
Rate locks for adjustable-rate mortgages increased 6 percent but have fallen by more than a third from 12 months ago. ARM share climbed to 6.6 percent from 6.1 percent but has fallen from 11.8 percent this week last year.
With a 7 percent week-over-week gain, rate locks for purchase financing had the biggest improvement. The Purchase MMI was unchanged though, from the revised level one year earlier.
