Weekly Mortgage Market Index Down as ARMs, Jumbos Up

Weekly Mortgage Market Index Down as ARMs, Jumbos Up


DALLAS — (Dec. 16, 2013) Mortgage rates jumped last week, sending new activity lower. But the volume of jumbo inquiries soared, while adjustable-rate business moved higher.

At 156, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter and Mortgage Daily for the week ended Dec. 13 was down 16 percent from the previous report. Activity reflects average per-user pricing inquiries by LoanSifter clients.

The index was down by nearly a quarter from the same week last year. Year-earlier figures have been revised to reflect statistics from the same data provider.

Government-insured business took the biggest spill, with inquiries for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans sinking 21 percent from the week ended Dec. 6. FHA activity, however, was still up 12 percent from a year prior.

FHA share slipped to 22.0 percent from 23.5 percent in the last report but was still fatter than 16.1 percent in the year-earlier report.

Although inquiries for purchase financing tumbled 20 percent, they remained 80 percent stronger than in the week ended Dec. 14, 2012.

Conventional business declined 16 percent for the week and was down 36 percent on a week-over-week basis.

A 12 percent decline was recorded for refinances, while the year-over-year drop was 56 percent. Refinances represented 45.7 percent of the latest activity, up from a 43.5 percent share in the previous report. Refinance share was 75.9 percent a year earlier. The most recent share reflected a 29.7 percent rate-term share and a 16.1 percent cashout share.

Pricing inquiries for adjustable-rate mortgages rose 38 percent for the week but were off 6 percent from the same week in 2012. ARM share jumped to 6.4 percent from the prior week’s 3.9 percent and was also up from 3.1 percent a year prior.

Jumbo activity skyrocketed, climbing 89 percent. Jumbo volume, however, sank 68 percent from a year earlier. Jumbo share leapt to 4.2 percent from 1.9 percent but fell short of 4.5 percent 12 months earlier.

Jumbo mortgages were priced 35 basis points higher than conforming loans. The jumbo-conforming spread tumbled from 85 BPS in the last report and was also lower than 41 BPS in the year-earlier report.

At 4.891 percent, 30-year fixed rates averaged 36 BPS more than in the prior week. Thirty-year interest rates have soared 94 BPS from the same week in 2012.

The rate discount for 15-year mortgages was 116 BPS. In the previous report, the spread was 95 BPS, while it was just 60 BPS one year previous.