New home-lending activity strengthened during the past week, with both refinancing and home-purchase financing showing a gain. Jumbo business gained the most.
In the week that ended on Feb. 3, the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from OpenClose and Mortgage Daily, which is not adjusted for seasonal factors, came in at 133.
The MMI, an indication of upcoming originations based on rate-lock volume by clients of OpenClose, rose nearly 12 percent from the report during the previous week.
But the index has retreated 18 percent compared to the same week last year.
The biggest rise in activity from the week ended Jan. 27 was with jumbo rate locks, which jumped 26 percent. Jumbo business has ascended 29 percent from a year earlier. Jumbo share widened to 12.6 percent from 11.2 percent and has ballooned from 8.1 percent a year ago. Jumbo interest rates were 8 basis points less than conforming rates. There was no change in the jumbo-conforming spread from the last report, though it was slashed from a negative 20 BPS in the year-prior report.
Rate locks for adjustable-rate mortgages climbed 17 percent from last week and were up 16 percent from the week ended Feb. 5, 2016. ARM share was slightly more broad at 8.9 percent versus 8.5 percent in the previous report and wider than 6.3 percent a year previous.
A 13 percent week-over-week increase was recorded for the Conventional MMI, which landed at 87.
The Purchase MMI rose 12 percent to 86 but was off 14 percent from the upwardly revised level this week in 2016.
At 47, the Refinance MMI increased 11 percent but sank 24 percent from the downwardly revised level one year previous. Refinance share was 35.4 percent, slightly thinner than 35.7 percent in the previous report and trimmed from the downwardly revised 38.3 percent 12 months ago. This week’s refinance share was comprised of a 21.5 percent rate-term share and a 13.9 percent cashout share.
Government activity was up a 10th from the last report, leaving the Government MMI at 46. Government rate locks accounted for 35.0 percent of all rate locks, minimally off from 35.5 percent the previous week. The most-recent government share consisted of a 25.1 percent FHA share and a 9.9 percent VA share.
