Mortgage applications took off this past week, with refinances leading the way. As refinance share widened to a nearly three-month high, adjustable-rate share was at an almost 11-month low.
A nearly 5 percent seasonally adjusted escalation from one week previous was recorded for the Market Composite Index for the seven-day period that concluded on Dec. 1.
But the index,
a measure of retail single-family loan application volume, skyrocketed 47 percent from the week ended Nov. 24 when seasonal factors are disregarded.
The index was derived from the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, which the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.
Applications for refinances climbed 9 percent
from the preceding survey. Refinance share was 51.6 percent — the widest share since the week ended Sept. 15, 2017. The share was 48.7 percent a week earlier. But refinance share was thinner than 56.2 percent in the year-earlier report.
A more modest 2 percent seasonally adjusted increase from the preceding survey was recorded for the Purchase
Index. But without seasonal adjustments, purchase applications shot up 38 percent and climbed 8 percent from the week ended Dec. 2, 2016.
Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration accounted for 11.1 percent of the latest activity, more broad than 10.8 percent the prior week but more narrow than 11.3 percent a year prior.
But the share of applications that were for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs was cut to 10.7 percent from 11.0 percent
and also thinned from 12.6 percent one year previous.
MBA reported that applications for adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 5.7 percent of total activity — the thinnest share since the week ended Jan. 20, 2017. ARM share was 6.2 percent in last week’s report and 6.0 percent the same week last year.
Jumbo interest rates were 3 basis points lower than conforming rates versus 6 BPS lower in the last report
and 5 BPS in the report from a year ago.
