A modest gain in weekly mortgage applications was driven by an increase in refinance activity. Government share of new business was more broad.
Retail residential loan applications increased 3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous seven-day period for the week ended Aug. 26.
That was based on the Market Composite Index, a
measure of mortgage loan application volume, which moved up 2 percent on an unadjusted basis.
The index is a product of the
Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The survey reportedly covers more than three-quarters of all mortgage applications.
MBA reported that applications to refinance an existing mortgage
climbed 4 percent from the week ended Aug. 19. Refinance share, meanwhile, widened to 63.5 percent from 62.4 percent in the last report and 58.7 percent in the year-earlier report.
Applications for loans to finance a home purchase inched up a seasonally adjusted 1 percent for the week. But purchase activity slipped 1 percent without any seasonal adjustments, though it grew 5 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Moving on to government activity, applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration made up 9.7 percent of total volume. FHA share widened from 8.9 percent one week prior but slid from 12.7 percent one year prior.
A 12.5 percent share was recorded on applications for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, fatter than 12.4 percent in the report from seven days earlier and 9.8 percent in the report from a year earlier.
MBA’s data indicate that
interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 4 basis points less than conforming rates, thinning from 5 BPS the prior week but widening from 3 BPS a year prior.
The survey indicated that 4.5 percent of all applications were for adjustable-rate mortgages. ARM share was thinner than 4.6 percent a week earlier and 7.5 percent a year earlier.
