With refinance activity leading the way, a weekly decline was reported for the number of prospective borrowers who initiated the home-loan process.
The Market Composite Index for the week that concluded on June 23 retreated 6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week.
Disregarding seasonal factors, the index — a measure of retail residential loan application volume — descended 7 percent from the prior report.
The Mortgage Bankers Association included the index as part of its
Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, which reportedly covers more than three-quarters of all applications.
Applications for refinances declined 9 percent from the preceding week as refinance share thinned to 45.6 percent from 46.6 percent
and has been slashed from 58.1 percent the same week in 2016.
MBA reported that applications for loans to finance a home purchase retreated 4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Foregoing seasonal adjustments, purchase activity fell 5 percent but improved 8 percent on a year-over-year basis.
The survey indicated that applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration accounted for 10.3 percent of overall activity. FHA share widened from 10.1 percent a week earlier but thinned from 10.6 percent the same week in 2016.
The share of applications that were for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, however, thinned to 10.3 percent from 10.4 percent the previous week and 12.2 percent a year previous.
Seven percent of all applications were for adjustable-rate mortgages.
ARM share was trimmed from 7.5 percent the prior week. But the share was more broad than 5.9 percent in the week ended June 24, 2016.
MBA reported jumbo interest rates that were 4 basis points lower than conforming rates, a little thinner than a negative 5-basis-point spread in the preceding week
and a negative 1-basis-point spread the same week in the preceding year.
