After hovering below conforming interest rates for more than four months, rates on jumbo mortgages leapt past conforming rates. Still, new jumbo business moved up more than any other category.
There wasn’t much of a week-over-week change in the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter/Optimal Blue and Mortgage Daily, which finished the week ended Aug. 22 at 172.
The index, which moves based on average per-user pricing inquiries by clients of LoanSifter, was up 2 percent from a week earlier but off 11 percent from a year earlier.
Out front in the latest report were inquiries for jumbo mortgages, which were up more than 4 percent from the week ended Aug. 15. Jumbo activity has climbed 29 percent compared to the same week in 2013. Jumbo inquiries accounted for 10.7 percent of overall business versus the 10.4 percent jumbo share in the previous report and the 7.4 percent share in the year-earlier report.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 2 basis points more than on conforming loans, swinging from a negative 12-basis-point spread seven days prior. Jumbo rates had been lower than conforming rates each week since April. The spread was a positive 25 BPS one year prior.
Purchase activity rose 2 percent but fell short of the same week in 2013 by 15 percent.
Inquiries for Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages were up over a percent for the week but down 14 percent from the week ended Aug. 23, 2013. FHAÂ share was mostly unchanged at 15.9 percent but thinned from 16.5 percent 12 months previous.
Refinance activity was up nearly 1 percent for the week but off 6 percent on a year-over-year basis. Refinance share slipped to 48.9 percent from 49.2 percent but was wider than 46.5 percent in the same week last year. The most recent share reflected a 32.6 percent rate-term share and a 16.3 percent cashout share.
Adjustable-rate mortgage inquiries were up less than 1 percent and down 9 percent from a year earlier. ARM share barely budged at 11.0 percent and was slightly broader than 10.7 percent one year prior.
The weakest performance versus a week earlier was delivered by conventional mortgages, with inquiries barely inching higher. Conventional activity diminished by 19 percent from a year ago — the weakest performance compared to the same week in 2013.
Fixed rates on conforming 30-year loans were 4.491 percent, hardly any different than the prior week’s 4.492 percent but lower than 4.839 percent in the year-earlier period.
A 96-basis-point discount was had by 15-year borrowers, a little better than the 95-basis-point spread in the prior report and unchanged from the year-earlier report.
Fixed rates aren’t likely to change much in the next Mortgage Market Index report based on weekly Treasury market activity.
From Monday through Friday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury — a benchmark for fixed mortgage rates — averaged 2.41 percent, based on Treasury Department data. The 10-year yield closed Friday at 2.40 percent.
