A drop in purchase-money mortgage activity helped pull overall new activity lower this week. Prospective borrowers shopping for 15-year loans and jumbo mortgages found less competitive pricing in the market.
New loan inquiries eased 1 percent this week based on the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortech Inc. and MortgageDaily.com, landing the index at 201 for the week ended Friday. The MMI, which reflects pricing inquiries by loan originators at Mortech Inc., was 217 during the same week in 2010.
Driving the index lower were purchase transactions, with the Purchase MMI at 105 versus 111 last Friday.
Refinances, however, were higher. The Refi MMI rose to 96 from 92. Refinance share, meanwhile, was also higher, climbing to 48 percent from 45 percent and a year earlier. This week’s rate-term share was 33 percent, and the cashout share was 15 percent.
The number of prospective borrowers shopping for adjustable-rate mortgages was unchanged this week, with the ARM MMI at 19. At 9.5 percent, ARM share was also unchanged.
The average U.S. loan amount rose to $205,277 from last week’s $202,392.
As rates moved lower this week, the spread between the conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and the jumbo 30-year jumped to 73 basis points from 66 BPS in the prior report. Still, the jumbo-conforming spread sits well below the 113Â BPS during the same week last year.
The spread between the 15-year and the 30-year eased to 74 BPS from last Friday’s 76 BPS.
