It has been at least three years since the share of borrowers extracting home equity has been this broad, while the last time adjustable-rate mortgage share was this wide was during the final week of 2015.
In the seven-day period that concluded on Sept. 29,
the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortgage Daily, an indication of upcoming originations, was 133.
Compared to the preceding seven-day period, the index, which is determined based on average per-user rate-lock volume by clients of OpenClose, retreated 4 percent.
A one-quarter drop was recorded versus the same week last year for the index, which is not adjusted for seasonal factors.
Rate locks for government mortgages tumbled 9 percent from the week ended Sept. 22 and were off 6 percent from the same seven days in 2016. Government share thinned to 36.7 percent from 38.8 percent but has widened
from 29.1 percent 12 months earlier. The most-recent share was comprised of a 22.7 percent FHA share and a 14.0 percent VA share.
Refinances receded more than 5 percent from the last report and have plunged by more than a third from the week ended Sept. 30, 2016.
Refinance share was 38.0 percent, not much changed from 38.6 percent a week earlier and thinner than 43.0 percent a year earlier. The latest share consisted of a 15.2 percent rate-term share and a 22.9 percent cashout share — the broadest cashout share since Mortgage Daily began tracking the data in July 2014.
At 83, the Purchase MMI was off 3 percent from the prior report and 19 percent below a year prior.
A less than 1 percent week-over-week drop was recorded for the Conventional MMI, which, at 84, was down a third on a year-over-year basis.
Rate locks for jumbo mortgages climbed 16 percent from the previous report but have fallen 29 percent from the same week in the previous year.
Jumbo share widened to 9.5 percent from 7.9 percent but was more narrow than 9.9 percent the same week a year ago. Rates on jumbo loans clocked in 14 basis points higher than conforming rates, widening from an 11-basis-point jumbo-conforming spread in the last report and an 8-basis-point spread in the year-earlier report.
Generating the biggest increase in activity from the prior report were ARM rate locks, which shot up 29 percent and were 46 percent stronger than the same-seven days a year ago. At 16.1 percent, ARM share was wider than its been since during any week since the seven days ended Jan. 1, 2016, when it was 21.3 percent.
