As interest rates on home loans have climbed to the highest level in more than four years, the share of applications for refinances has fallen to a decade-low. Government share was diminished again.
In the seven-day period that ended on April 20, the Market Composite Index dipped less than 1 percent from the preceding week on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Without factoring in seasonal data, however, the index —
a measure of retail residential loan application volume —Â increased 1 percent from the week ended April 13.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported the index, which was derived from its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. More than three-quarters of all applications are reportedly covered by the survey.
MBA reported that refinance applications slipped less than a percent. At 37.2 percent, refinance share
was less than during any week since the week ended Sept. 5, 2008, when it was 36.3 percent. Refinance share was 37.6 percent in last week’s report and 44.0 percent in the same week a year ago.
The decline in refinances is occurring as
average 30-year fixed rates have risen to the highest level since September 2013.
Similarly, applications for purchase financing were unchanged from the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis. Without seasonal adjustments, purchase-money activity rose 1 percent and was 11 percent stronger than the week ended April 21, 2017.
Of all applications submitted, 10.2 percent were for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. FHA share was diminished from 10.6 percent a week prior but widened from a 10th a year prior.
Also declining was the share of applications for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs —
to 10.1 percent from 10.4 percent. VA share was 10.9 percent in the same-seven days last year.
Government share of 21.1 percent, including USDA loans, has thinned two weeks in a row.
The share of applications that were for adjustable-rate mortgages was 6.5 percent, slightly more narrow than 6.6 percent a week earlier
and thinner than 8.7 percent a year earlier.
Interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 9 basis points lower than conforming rates. A week previous, jumbo rates were 13 BP lower, while they were just 5 BPS lower a year previous.
