The weekly number of people who applied to refinance their home loans amounted to the fewest since 2008. The same goes for refinance share. Two things that did grow were the jumbo-conforming spread and the share of applications to veterans.
During the week ended May 4, the volume of applications for mortgages, as measured by the Market Composite Index, was off less than a seasonally adjusted 1 percent from the preceding week.
When seasonal factors are not a part of the equation, retail residential loan application volume was unchanged compared to the seven-day period that concluded on April 27.
Data for the index were collected from the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey reported Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Washington-based trade group says the survey covers more than three-quarters of all applications.
A 1 percent week-over-week decline was reported for refinance applications. The association reported that refinance borrowers were the least busy they’ve been since October 2008.
At 36.3 percent, refinance share matched the low last seen in the week ended Sept. 5, 2008. Refinance share was 36.5 percent in last week’s report and 41.9 percent in the same-seven days during 2017.
Purchase application volume
slipped 0.2 percent using seasonal adjustments. But without the adjustments, purchase activity was up 0.4 percent and increased 3 percent from the week ended May 5, 2017.
Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration accounted for 10.1 percent of the weekly total. FHA share was more narrow than 10.3 percent the prior week and 10.5 percent a year prior.
Another 10.4 percent of applications were for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA share widened from 10.2 percent
reported last week but thinned from 10.8 percent reported a year ago.
Of all applications completed, 6.5 percent were for an adjustable-rate mortgages. ARM share thinned from 6.7 percent and was even more narrow versus 8.2 percent in the report from this week last year.
MBA’s data indicate that jumbo interest rates were 13 basis points lower than conforming rates. The spread was 11 BPS the previous week and just a single basis point one year previous.
