New mortgage activity declined for the second consecutive week as interest rates worsened for the second week in a row.
A 13 percent decline from the previous week left the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter/Optimal Blue and Mortgage Daily at 178 for the week ended Oct. 31.
The index, a reflection of average per-user product-and-pricing inquiries by clients of LoanSifter, inched up 1 percent from the same week last year.
Adjustable-rate mortgages took the biggest hit, slowing 19 percent from the week ended Oct. 24. ARM activity, however, improved 5 percent from a year earlier. ARM share was cut to 10.8 percent from 11.7 percent but was slightly wider than 10.4 percent twelve months prior.
Next were pricing inquiries for refinances, falling 17 percent on a week-over-week basis. But refinance business increased 10 percent from the week ended Nov. 1, 2013.
Refinance share narrowed to 56.2 percent from the prior week’s 58.9 percent but was fatter than 51.9 percent one year prior. The latest share consisted of a 39.8 percent rate-term share and a 16.4 percent cashout share.
After that was conventional activity, which fell 15 percent from the previous week and was down 5 percent from the same week in 2013.
Jumbo pricing inquiries retreated 13 percent, though jumbo business was 45 percent better than one year previous. Jumbo share was unchanged at 10.7 percent but wider than 7.4 percent in the year-earlier report.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 4 basis points more than conforming rates. The jumbo-conforming spread worsened from 3 BPS in the previous report but subsided from 30 BPS in the same week last year.
Inquiries for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration were off 8 percent from a week earlier and a year earlier. FHA share rose to 14.0 percent from 13.2 percent one week prior but declined from 15.3 percent one year prior.
The smallest week-over-week decline was with purchase inquiries:Â 7 percent. Purchase business has dropped 8 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Market activity slowed as conforming 30-year fixed rates climbed to 4.345 percent from 4.310 percent in the last report. The 30 year was 4.400 percent at the same point in 2013.
Shoppers inquiring about 15-year mortgages were quoted rates that were 91 BPS better than 30-year rates. The spread was thinner than 93 BPS in the last report and 89 BPS in the year-previous report.
In the next Mortgage Market Index report, fixed mortgage rates are likely to be around 3 BPS higher based on Treasury market activity.
Fixed rates track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which averaged 2.32 percent during the week covered by the index. The 10-year yield closed Friday at 2.35 percent.
