New weekly applications for home loans increased, and the escalation in activity was due to an increase in home purchase financing. Government share was the widest it’s been in five weeks.
In the week that ended on Feb. 23, the Market Composite Index, a measure of retail residential loan application volume, rose a seasonally adjusted 3 percent from a week earlier.
But when seasonal factors are set aside, the index moved lower by 6 percent when compared to the seven days that finished up on Feb. 16.
The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association was the source of the index. The survey reportedly reflects more than three-quarters of all applications.
A 1 percent reduction was recorded for refinance applications. Refinance share was 41.8 percent —
the thinnest it’s been since it was 41.1 percent in the week ended May 12, 2017. Refinance share was 44.4 percent in last week’s report and 45.1 percent in the report from a year ago.
MBA said that applications for loans to finance a home purchase jumped a seasonally adjusted 6 percent. The unadjusted Purchase Index for the week that included Presidents Day, though, was down 1 percent from a week earlier but up 3 percent from the week ended Feb. 24, 2017.
Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration represented 10.3 percent of the weekly total. FHA share widened from 9.9 percent a week earlier but was more narrow than 12.3 percent a year earlier.
The share of applications that were for Department of Veterans Affairs-guaranteed loans broadened to 10.7 percent from 10.0 percent but was thinner than 11.7 percent a year prior.
Including USDA mortgages, the government share of applications was 21.8 percent — the widest it’s been since it was 23.1 percent in the week ended
Jan. 19. The widening in government share reversed five consecutive weeks of thinning.
The report had adjustable-rate mortgages accounting for 6.7 percent of total applications. ARM share widened from 6.1 percent in last week’s report
but thinned from 7.3 percent a year previous.
Interest
rates on applications for jumbo mortgages were 7 basis points lower than conforming rates. The spread ballooned from just 2 BPS a week prior but was the same as a year prior.
