Weekly purchase-money loan applications were affected more than refinances from a week-over-week drop in mortgage applications. Government share widened, as did the jumbo-conforming spread.
A seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent decline from the preceding seven-day period was recorded for the Market Composite Index that covered the week ended July 27.
The index, a measure of retail residential loan applications based on a more than three-quarters sampling of all applications, still saw a 3 percent drop even
when seasonal factors are disregarded.
Refinance applications saw a 2 percent decrease from the week ended July 20. Meantime, refinance share broadened to 37.1 percent from 36.8 percent
but was more narrow than 45.5 percent in the report from a year ago.
Compared to one week previous, applications for loans to finance a house purchase slowed by a seasonally adjusted 3 percent. Purchase activity was also down 3 percent without seasonal adjustments but has risen 1 percent from the week ended July 28, 2017.
A 10.4 percent share was recorded for FHAÂ applications, widening from 9.9 percent a week earlier and 10.3 percent a year earlier. VA share also thickened from last week’s report, to 10.5 percent from 10.2 percent the preceding week and 10.1 percent in the year-previous period.
Adjustable-rate mortgage applications accounted for 6.4 percent of the most-recent activity, more than the 6.3 percent share of the previous week
but not as much as the 6.6 percent share as of the same week in 2017.
Based on MBA’s data, interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 8 basis points lower than interest rates on conforming loans. The spread widened from 5 BPS the prior week and 6 BPS twelve months earlier.
