Residential interest rates have moved up for three consecutive weeks, and loan inquiries for refinances took the biggest hit in the latest report.
At 169, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter/Optimal Blue and Mortgage Daily for the week ended Nov. 7 was down 6 percent from the previous week.
The index, a measure of average per-user pricing inquiries by clients of LoanSifter, has retreated 7 percent compared to the same week last year.
The biggest drop from the week ended Oct. 31 was with refinances: 8 percent. Refinance business was off less than a percent from one year earlier.
Refinance activity slowed as refinance share slipped to 54.76 percent from 56.16 percent in the previous report. Refinance share, however, was wider than 51.31 percent one year prior. The most recent share consisted of a 38.40 percent rate-term share and a 16.36 percent cashout share.
Conventional business was close behind refinances, falling 6 percent from a week earlier. Conventional activity has slowed 12 percent compared to the week ended Nov. 8, 2013.
Next were inquiries for jumbo mortgages, which declined 5 percent on a week-over-week basis but have risen 29 percent on a year-over-year basis — the biggest gain from a year earlier of any category. Jumbo share was unchanged from the prior week at 10.7 percent.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 10 basis points higher than on conforming loans. The jumbo-conforming spread more than doubled from 4 BPS a week earlier but has narrowed from 26 BPS a year earlier.
Pricing inquiries for purchase financing were off by just over 2 percent for the week and have retreated 14 percent from one year prior.
A nearly 2 percent decline was recorded for inquiries on loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. FHA business was off 15 percent from a year earlier. FHA share fattened to 14.5 percent from 14.0 percent seven days earlier and 15.9 percent 12 months earlier.
Adjustable-rate mortgage activity was off 1 percent from the previous week, the smallest decline of any category. ARM business has weakened 2 percent from a year earlier. ARM share, meanwhile, widened to 11.3 percent from 10.8 percent a week earlier and a year earlier.
Mortgage activity slowed for the third consecutive week as 30-year fixed rates rose for the third week in a row, worsening 2 BPS in the latest report to 4.363 percent. The 30 year was 4.480 percent the same week in 2013.
Fifteen-year customers were quoted rates that were 88 BPS lower than on 30-year mortgages, not as good as the 91-basis-point spread in place a week prior and a year prior.
Mortgage rates could be around 4 BPS better in the next Mortgage Market Index report based on last week’s Treasury market activity, with the 10-year Treasury yield falling to 2.32 percent Friday from an average of 2.36 percent during the period encompassed by the index based on Treasury Department data.
