While prospective borrowers completed more mortgage applications last week, the share applying for government loans has fallen each of the preceding three weeks.
The number applications for a home loan that were submitted to residential lenders during the week ended Feb. 2 rose by a seasonally adjusted 1 percent from a week earlier.
That is according to a measure of retail single-family loan application volume, the Market Composite Index, which climbed 4 percent without seasonal adjustments.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported the index Wednesday based on data collected from its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
MBA revealed that refinance applications inched up a percent as refinance share thinned to 46.4 percent — the
most-narrow share since it was 45.5 percent in the week ended July 28, 2017. Refinance share was 47.8 percent in last week’s report and 47.9 percent in the report from the same week last year.
No seasonally adjusted change was recorded for applications for loans to finance a home purchase, though they jumped 7 percent without any adjustments and climbed 8 percent from the same-seven days last year.
The trade group said that 10.4 percent of all applications were for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. FHA share thinned from 10.7 percent a week earlier and 11.9 percent a year earlier.
At 10.1 percent, the share of applications for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs was unchanged. VA share,
however, was cut from 12.7 percent in the week ended Feb. 3, 2017.
Overall government activity, including applications for USDA loans, accounted for 21.2 percent of overall activity. Government share has been reduced each week since the week ended Jan. 12, when it was 23.2 percent.
Applications for adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 6.1 percent of the latest week’s activity. ARM share widened from
5.7 percent in the week ended Jan. 26 but was still more narrow than 6.9 percent in the report from a year ago.
MBA’s data indicate that interest rates on jumbo mortgages were were 3 basis points
less than conforming rates, down from 7 BPS in the last report and 8 BPS in the year-previous report.
