Here are this week's figures…
Mortgage applications saw a decrease from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week that ended on Dec 15.
The Market Composite Index (MCI), which is a measure of the volume of mortgage loan applications, decreased by 1.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. It decreased by 3% compared to the previous week on an unadjusted basis.
Meanwhile, the Refinance Index decreased by 2% from the previous week and was 18% higher year-over-year. The Purchase Index decreased by 1% on a seasonally adjusted basis while it decreased by 4% on an unadjusted basis.
“With the positive news about the drop in inflation, and the FOMC projections proclaiming a pivot towards rate cuts, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached its lowest level since June 2023, declining to 6.83%,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’S SVP and chief economist.
“At least as of last week, borrowers’ response to this rate move was rather tepid,” he added.
What were the report’s findings?
The report found that the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 39.7% of total applications while the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity was still at 6.3% of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications saw a decrease to 15.5% from the 16.1% seen in the previous week. The VA share of total applications increased to 15.6%. The USDA share of total applications was still at 0.4%. Average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances dropped to 6.83% with points increasing to 0.60 for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
For those with jumbo loan balances, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages saw a decrease to 7.12% with points increasing to 0.55 for 80% LTV loans. For those backed by the FHA, the rate decreased to 6.65% with points decreasing to 0.69 for 80% LTV loans.
Meanwhile, the average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.41% with points increasing to 0.77 for 80% LTV loans, while the rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 6.33% with points decreasing to 0.57% for 80% LTV loans.
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