Originators of single-family loans were a little less busy this past week. Government share, meanwhile, was the greatest it’s been in nearly three months.
In the seven days that concluded on April 6, the Market Composite Index retreated a seasonally adjusted 2 percent from the preceding week.
A 1 percent decline without seasonal adjustments from the week ended March 30 was recorded for the index, a measure of retail residential application volume.
Behind the index is the Mortgage Bankers Association, which derived its findings from the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Over three-quarters of all applications are reportedly covered by the survey.
MBA reported that refinance applications descended 2 percent. Refinance share was 38.4 percent — the thinnest share since the week ended Sept. 5, 2008, when it was 36.3 percent. The share was 38.5 percent in last week’s report and 41.6 percent in the same report a year ago.
Applications for loans to finance a home purchase fell a seasonally adjusted 2 percent. Foregoing seasonal adjustments, the dip was just 1 percent and less than 1 percent from the week ended April 7, 2017.
Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration accounted for 11.0 percent of weekly activity. FHA share widened from 10.1 percent a week earlier and 10.7 percent a year earlier.
Also more broad was the share of applications for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which climbed to 10.9 percent from 10.3 percent. VA share was
11.3 percent in the same-seven days during 2017.
Including applications for USDA mortgages, government share was 22.7 percent — the most broad share since the week ended Jan. 19, when it was 23.1 percent.
The report indicated that 6.3 percent of all applications were for adjustable-rate mortgages, less than the prior week’s 6.5 percent and
8.5 percent a year prior.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages
were 13 basis points lower than conforming rates, the same as in last week’s report. Jumbo rates were 8 BPS less than conforming rates this week last year.
