While mortgage activity was little changed this past week, the number of prospective borrowers seeking adjustable rate mortgages moved lower.
In the week ended June 20, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter/Optimal Blue and Mortgage Daily landed at 167.
The index, which is a reflection of average per-user activity at LoanSifter, slipped from 170 a week earlier and sank from 273 a year earlier.
The biggest drop compared to the week ended June 13 was with pricing inquiries for ARMs: 8 percent.
ARM activity, however, remained 4 percent stronger than in the week ended June 21, 2013. The share of the most recent week’s activity that was adjustable rate was 11.1 percent, down from 11.8 percent in the previous report. But ARM share was well above 6.5 percent 12 months ago.
Conventional business declined 3 percent from the previous week and has been curtailed 47 percent from the same week in 2013.
A more than 2 percent week-over-week decline was recorded for Federal Housing Administration-insured inquiries. FHA activity has tumbled 37 percent on a year-over-year basis. FHA share, meanwhile, slipped to 16.0 percent from 16.2 percent but was fatter than 15.7 percent 12 months prior.
Purchase activity dipped nearly 2 percent and was down nearly 16 percent from the same week last year.
Pricing inquiries for refinances were off from last week by just over a percent, though they have plunged by more than half from 12 months prior.
Refinance share widened to 45.3 percent from 45.2 percent but was much thinner than 60.1 percent one year previous. The most recent share reflected a 30.4 percent rate-term share and a 14.9 percent cashout share.
The smallest week-over-week decline was turned in by jumbo inquiries, which slipped less than a percent. Jumbo business stands 13 percent higher than the same week in 2013. Jumbo share inched up to 10.1 percent from 10.0 percent and was far wider than 5.5 percent in the year-earlier report.
Average interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 9 basis points less than conforming rates, the same as in the prior report. The jumbo-conforming spread swung from a positive 28 BPS one year previous.
Conforming 30-year fixed rates were hardly changed at 4.535 percent versus 4.534 percent in the last report. One year previous, 30-year rate averaged 4.303 percent.
No change is likely for 30-year rates in the next report based on weekly Treasury market activity. Data from the Department of the Treasury indicated that the yield on the 10-year Treasury note — a benchmark for fixed mortgage rates — averaged 2.63 percent during the week covered by the latest Mortgage Market Index report, the same as where it closed at Friday.
