After adjusting for the prior week’s holiday, the volume of new applications from prospective home-loan borrowers declined from one week earlier.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, applications for mortgages during the week ended Sept. 16 retreated by more than 7 percent from the previous week.
That activity was determined according to the Market Composite Index, which is a
measure of all retail application volume for U.S. residential loans.
The index is derived from the
Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Foregoing any seasonal adjustments, there was a 15 percent increase in applications from the week that included
Labor Day.
MBA reported that the Refinance Index declined 8 percent from the week ended Sept. 9. It was the lowest level for refinance applications since June.
Applications for refinances accounted for 63.1 percent of the latest week’s activity. Refinance share widened from 62.9 percent a week earlier
and 58.4 percent a year earlier.
A seasonally adjusted 7 percent week-over-week decline was recorded for the Purchase Index. Purchase applications rose, though, 15 percent from the last report without seasonal adjustments and were up 3 percent from the the week ended Sept. 18, 2015.
Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration made up 10.2 percent of total applications. FHA share widened from 9.6 percent the previous week but was more narrow than 12.9 percent the same week the previous year.
Department of Veterans Affairs applications
accounted for 11.6 percent of overall activity. VA share was reduced from 12.0 percent the prior week and 10.0 percent a year prior.
The trade group’s data indicate that interest rates on jumbo mortgages were a basis point lower than conforming rates. The jumbo-conforming spread thinned from a negative 3 BPS a week earlier and a negative 10 BPS a year earlier.
The share of applications that were for adjustable-rate mortgages thinned to 4.4 percent from
4.6 percent a week prior and 6.9 percent a year prior.
