Applications for residential loans slowed during the most-recent week, with applications for mortgage refinances receding more than purchases.
A seasonally adjusted 1 percent decline from the previous week was recorded for the Market Composite Index for the week ended Oct. 28.
Without any seasonal adjustments, the index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — retreated by 2 percent versus a week earlier.
The index is reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association in its
Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. MBA says the survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.
Refinance applications declined 2 percent from the week ended Oct. 21. Refinance share was 62.7 percent, the same as in the previous report.
The share widened, however, from 59.7 percent the same week last year.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index was mostly unchanged from the last report. But purchase applications declined 2 percent from a week earlier without seasonal adjustments, though they climbed 9 percent from the week ended Oct. 30, 2015.
Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration accounted for 11.1 percent of total activity, the same as in last week’s report. FHA share was trimmed from 13.2 percent in the survey from a year ago.
Another 12.4 percent of the latest week’s applications were for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, a little more than 12.2 percent the previous week. VA share was
wider, however, than 11.9 percent 12 months earlier.
Jumbo interest
rates were a basis point lower than conforming rates. The prior report had jumbo rates the same as conforming rates. The jumbo-conforming spread was a negative 11 BPS a year prior.
Adjustable-rate mortgage applications represented 4.4 percent of the most-recent total, more than 4.2 percent in the prior week. ARM share was thinner than 6.7 percent a year prior.
