Refi apps took a bigger share of overall activity
Applications for mortgage decreased again during the week ending July 27 as refinance applications increased their share of overall activity, according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell 2.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis and decreased 3% on an unadjusted basis. The Refinance Index slipped 2%. The Purchase Index fell 3% on both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted bases. The unadjusted Purchase Index was 1% higher than the same period one year ago.
Applications for refinances accounted for 37.1% of all applications during the period, a bigger share than the 36.8% in the previous survey. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.4% of total applications.
FHA applications increased their share to 10.4% from 9.9%. The VA share of total applications increased to 10.5% from 10.2%. The share of USDA applications was unchanged at 0.8%.
Average contract interest rates increased during the period, except for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA, which remained unchanged at 4.78%, with points increasing to 0.74 from 0.73 for 80% loan-to-value ratio loans.
Rates for 5/1 ARMs rose to their highest level in the history of MBA’s survey to 4.17% from 4.09%, with points increasing to 0.32 from 0.29.
The average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances increased to 4.84% from 4.77%, with points remaining unchanged at 0.45. Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances rose to 4.76% from 4.72%, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.31. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage had a 4.29% average, up from 4.23%, with points increasing to 0.53 from 0.44.
