The past week, new mortgage business declined as adjustable rate mortgages and jumbo loans took the biggest week-over-week hits.
At 158 for the week that ended on May 1, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter/Optimal Blue and Mortgage Daily showed mortgage activity declined 8 percent from the previous seven days.
The index, which offers insight into average per-user product-and-pricing inquiries by LoanSifter customers, dropped 15 percent from the seven days ended May 2 last year.
Adjustable-rate mortgage business was the poorest week-over-week performing category, falling 18 percent. As well, ARM activity was the poorest performer on a year-over-year basis. Recent business plummeted 43 percent from the same period last year.
The latest ARM share was at 8.8 percent, down from 9.7 percent a week ago and further behind the 12.9 percent a year ago.
The second-poorest weekly business performer was jumbo loan activity, sliding 14 percent from last week’s report. Recent activity was 12 percent lower than the same week in 2014.
Jumbo loan share was at 10.4 percent, down from 11.2 percent listed as of the week ended April 24, 2015, and barely up from 10.1 as of the week ended May 2, 2014.
At the end of the most recent week, jumbo interest rates were 18 basis points higher than conforming rates. This jumbo-conforming spread was nearly unchanged from the week ended April 24 and swung from a negative one-basis-point spread in the report issued May 2 a year prior.
On a week-over-week basis, inquiries for refinance loans were 10 percent lower than they were for the week that culminated on April 24. As the best performing business category on a year-over-year basis, however, refinance activity was 10 percent better than a year earlier.
When May 1 finished out the week, refinance share decreased to 56.2 percent from 57.8 percent seven days prior. The latest data, however, indicated refinance share climbed from 43.6 percent at the same point in 2014. Included in the recent calculation was a 39.6 percent rate-term share and a 16.1 percent cashout share.
With a seven percent week-over-week decline, conventional activity dove 20 percent from the same point a year prior.
Inquiries for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration slipped 6 percent from the seven days that ended April 24. Compared with the same week last year, however, recent inquiries were 8 percent better. Still, FHA share climbed to 19.5 percent from 19.2 percent the previous week. As well, recent FHA share rose from 15.4 percent as of the week ended May 2, 2014.
Purchase financing dipped 4 percent below the prior week and had the second biggest year-over-year decline with most the most recent data down 34 percent from the same week last year.
Fixed interest rates on conforming 30-year loans averaged 4.09 percent for the week. This average was 3 BPS higher than last week but fell 54 BPS from the same seven-day period last year.
Fifteen-year home loan rate quotes were 85 BPS better than on 30-year mortgages, nearly unchanged from seven days earlier. But last year, for the week that ended two days into May, the spread was wider at 100 BPS.
In next week’s report, fixed rates are likely to be approximately nine BPS worse than this week, according to a Treasury market activity analysis by Mortgage Daily.
