The refinance activity share tumbled to its lowest level since August 2008
The volume of mortgage applications posted a weekly decline during the week ending May 11 as average contract interest rates saw mixed movements, according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis and slipped 3% on an unadjusted basis. The Refinance Index fell 4% to its lowest level since August 2008. The Purchase Index edged down 2% on both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted bases. On a year-over-year basis, the unadjusted Purchase Index recorded a 4% increase from the same week in 2017.
Refinance applications accounted for 35.9% of total applications during the period, down from 36.3% to its lowest level since August 2008. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 6.5%.
Applications for FHA mortgages made up 10.3% of total applications, up from 10.1%. The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.3% from 10.4%. USDA applications accounted for 0.8% of activity, inching up from 0.7%.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with conforming loan balances recorded an average rate of 4.77%, down from 4.78%, with points remaining unchanged at 0.50 for 80% loan-to-value ratio loans. The average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances increased to 4.73% from 4.65%, with points decreasing to 0.35 from 0.36.
Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA averaged 4.78%, down from 4.8%, with points increasing to 0.76 from 0.75. The average rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained unchanged at 4.2%, with points increasing to 0.53 from 0.48. The 5/1 ARM posted a 4.09% average rate, up from 4%, with points increasing to 0.56 from 0.43.
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