The holiday week had a significantly negative impact on new mortgage activity, though business held up from a year ago. Leading the week-over-week decline was refinance business.
During the week ended Nov. 25, Mortgage Daily’s U.S. Mortgage Market Index, an indication of upcoming originations based on per-user rate locks by OpenClose clients, was 106.
The index, which is not adjusted for seasonal variations, tumbled by a third compared to the previous report. However, activity slowed by less than a percent compared to a year earlier.
Refinance rate locks plummeted 45 percent from the week ended Nov. 18, 2016. Refinance business slipped 3 percent from the downwardly revised level the same week last year. Refinance share was cut to 31.4 percent from 38.2 percent a week prior and a downwardly revised 32.1 percent a year prior.
The latest share consisted of a 15.4 percent rate-term share and a 16.0 percent cashout share.
Rate locks for adjustable-rate mortgages slowed by 37 percent from the previous report but ascended 6 percent compared to
week ended Nov. 27, 2015. ARM share was 9.9 percent, thinning from 10.5 percent a week earlier but widening from 9.3 percent a year earlier.
A one-third week-over-week decline was recorded for conventional business, leaving the Conventional MMI at 68.
The Government MMI was 38, down 32 percent from the prior week. Government share inched up to 35.8 percent from 35.3 percent in the last report. The most-recent government share was comprised of a 26.2 percent FHA share and a 9.6 percent VA share.
Jumbo mortgage activity fell 28 percent from the previous report and a year previous. Jumbo share widened, though, to 6.5 percent from 6.0 percent. But jumbo share was more narrow than 8.9 percent the same week in 2015. Rates on jumbo mortgages were 7 basis points less than conforming rate, about the same as in the report from seven days earlier but much less than the negative 22 BPS twelve months earlier.
The best-performing index was the Purchase MMI, which was down by a quarter to 73. There was no change, however, from the upwardly revised level a year earlier for purchase-money rate locks.
