A week-over-week decline in new mortgage activity was led by a big drop in demand for adjustable-rate mortgages and refinances. One bright spot was jumbo business, which overcame price deterioration.
In the seven days that concluded on June 23, the Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily was 134. The index is an indication of upcoming originations based on OpenClose rate-lock volume.
An 18 percent decline from the previous week was recorded for the index, which is not adjusted for seasonal factors. Compared to the same week last year, the MMI has retreated 14 percent.
Rate locks for ARMs plummeted 37 percent from the preceding report. ARM activity slid 16 percent from the same week in 2016. ARM share, meanwhile, thinned to 8.9 percent from 11.6 percent a week earlier and 9.1 percent a year earlier.
Refinance business tumbled 25 percent from the prior week and was down 19 percent from the downwardly revised level a year prior. Refinance share narrowed to 29.7 percent from 32.8 percent and was also diminished from the downwardly revised 31.5 percent twelve months earlier. The latest share was comprised of a 15.3 percent rate-term share and a 14.4 percent cashout share.
The Conventional MMI was 81, declining 21 percent from the preceding seven-day period.
At 94, the Purchase MMI declined 14 percent from one week previous. Purchase business has fallen 12 percent from the upwardly revised level in the week ended June 24, 2016.
An 11 percent week-over-week loss in the Government MMI left that index at 53. Government share widened to 39.7 percent from 36.7 percent the prior week. The most-recent share consisted of a 27.6 percent FHA share and a 12.1 percent VA share.
The only category to see a week-over-week gain was jumbo, with jumbo rate locks inching up 2 percent from the last report but receding 14 percent from the same week last year. Jumbo share was 7.9 percent, fatter than 6.4 percent in the previous report and 7.8 percent a year prior. Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were a whopping 10 basis points more than conforming rates. The jumbo-conforming spread exploded from 3 BPS the preceding week and was also wider than 7 BPS twelve months previous.
