Although the number of borrowers who applied to refinance their mortgages expanded, a week-over-week drop in applications to finance a home purchase offset the gain.
There was virtually no seasonally adjusted change from the preceding week in the volume of new retail applications for residential loans during
the week ended Aug. 11.
That is according to the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage application volume. The index fell 1 percent from the previous report without any seasonal adjustments.
The Mortgage Bankers Association presented
the index as part of its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey report, which reportedly covers more than 75 percent of the market.
MBA said applications for refinances represented 47.8
of overall activity — the widest share since February. Refinance share was 46.7 percent in the week ended Aug. 4. But the share has thinned considerably since the same week last year, when it was 62.6 percent.
Total refinance applications completed by prospective borrowers were 2 percent stronger than in the previous seven-day period.
Applications for loans to finance a home purchase fell a seasonally adjusted 2 percent from the preceding report. A 3 percent decline was recorded without seasonal adjustments, though volume still came in 10 percent stronger than in the week ended Aug. 12, 2016.
There was no change from last week’s report in the share of applications for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which was 10.2 percent. FHA share, though, has
widened from 9.6 percent twelve months earlier.
Another 10.5 percent of activity was for mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA share thinned from 10.7 percent in the previous seven-day period
and 13.2 percent in the same seven days last year.
As a share of total volume, applications for adjustable-rate mortgages made up 6.6 percent. ARM share
was more narrow than 6.8 percent a week prior but wider than 4.6 percent a year prior.
Jumbo interest rates were 8 basis points lower than conforming rates during the most-recent week, widening from a negative 7 BPS. The same week last year, the jumbo-conforming spread was just a negative 4 BPS.
