With inquiries for jumbo loans and adjustable-rate mortgages leading the way, mortgage business improved. Interest rates fell and are likely to be even lower in the next report.
At 164, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter and Mortgage Daily for the week ended Jan. 10 jumped 24 percent from seven days prior. The index reflects average pricing inquiries per LoanSifter user.
But activity has fallen 39 percent compared to the same week last year. The year-earlier numbers were revised to reflect figures from the same data provider.
The biggest boost came from jumbo inquiries, which soared 45 percent from the week ended Jan. 3. Jumbo business was 13 percent better than the same week in 2013.
Jumbo share increased to 9.2 percent from 7.8 percent in the previous report and 4.9 percent a year earlier.
Jumbo mortgage rates were 22 basis points higher than conforming rates. The jumbo-conforming spread was cut from 28 BPS last week and 43 BPS in the year-earlier period.
A 43 percent increase in ARM activity was recorded, while ARM business has skyrocketed 114 percent compared to the week ended Jan. 11, 2013.
ARM share climbed to 12.8 percent in the latest report from 11.1 percent the previous week and 3.6 percent in the same week last year.
More than a one-quarter increase was clocked for refinances, though refinance activity remains down 61 percent from a year ago.
Refinance share moved up to 48.2 percent from 46.5 percent but was well short of the more than three-quarter share one year prior. The most recent refinance share consisted of a 33.9 percent rate-term share and a 14.3 percent cashout share.
Next were inquires for conventional mortgages, which rose 24 percent for the week. But conventional business remains down 48 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Pricing inquiries for purchase financing climbed 20 percent from last week and were up 29 percent from 12 months previous.
Inquiries for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans rose 13 percent from the last report but were down more than a third from the year-earlier report.
FHA share fell to 17.0 percent from 18.6 percent last week and 15.7 percent this week last year.
Conforming 30-year fixed rates averaged 4.770 percent, improving from 4.826 percent seven days earlier. Thirty-year rates averaged 3.679 percent a year ago.
The rate discount for a 15-year mortgage was 98 BPS, not quite as good as the 101-basis-point spread in the last report but improved from 68 BPS one year prior.
Thanks to a disappointing jobs report, mortgage rates are likely to be around 8 BPS better in the next Mortgage Market Index report.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for fixed mortgage rates, averaged 2.96 percent during the week encompassed by the latest Mortgage Market Index report, while the 10-year yield closed at 2.88 percent Friday.
