Even as overall weekly mortgage applications decelerated, refinance share reached a 10-week high. The spread between conforming and jumbo interest rates was at its widest in 15 weeks.
A seasonally adjusted 5 percent increase from the preceding week was recorded for the Market Composite Index for the seven-day period ended June 22.
When seasonal factors are disregarded, however, the index — a measure of retail residential loan applications — retreated 6 percent from the week ended June 15.
Reporting the index Wednesday was the Mortgage Bankers Association, which based the findings on its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. The survey reportedly covers more than three-quarters of all applications.
A 4 percent decline hit refinance applications, which accounted for 37.6 percent of all applications. Refinance share widened from 36.8 percent a week earlier but was more narrow than 45.6 percent a year earlier.
Applications for loans to finance a home purchase decreased a seasonally adjusted 6 percent. Without the adjustments, purchase-money activity descended 7 percent but inched up a percent from the week ended June 23, 2017.
MBA reported that 10.2 percent of total applications were for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, widening from 10.1 percent. FHA share thinned, though, from 10.3 percent a year previous.
The 10.7 percent share of applications that were for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs was
wider than 10.2 percent in the last report and 10.3 percent in the year-earlier report.
Adjustable-rate mortgage applications accounted for 6.5 percent of overall applications, less than 7.0 percent the prior week and a year prior.
Interest rates on jumbo applications were 14 basis points less than conforming rates — the most broad spread since the week ended March 9 when it was also 14 BPS. The spread was just 4 BPS in last week’s report and in the report from the same week in 2017.
