Applications for loans secured by single-family properties turned higher last week as refinance activity leapt and refinance share was the most broad it’s been in five months.
A seasonally adjusted more than 4 percent week-over-week improvement was recorded for the Market Composite Index for the seven days that concluded on Aug. 17.
The ascension from the week ended Aug. 10 was just 3 percent without seasonal adjustments to the index — a measure of retail residential loan application volume.
Behind the index is the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey reported Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group claims that more than three-quarters of all applications are reflected in the survey.
Refinance applications jumped 6 percent from the week ended Aug. 10. The share of all applications that were for refinances was 38.7 percent — the widest it’s been since the week ended March 23, when it was 39.4 percent. Refinance share was 37.6 percent the prior week and was thinner than 48.7 percent a year prior.
MBA reported that applications for loans to finance house purchases rose a seasonally adjusted 3 percent.
But the increase was just 1 percent without the adjustments and also 1 percent versus the week ended Aug. 18, 2017.
Applications for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration accounted for 10.2 percent of the latest total, while applications for loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs made up 10.5 percent of the total. Including USDA applications, government share thinned to 21.4 percent from 21.8 percent.
Adjustable-rate mortgage applications accounted for 6.5 percent of all activity. ARM share widened from 6.2 percent in last week’s report
and 6.4 percent percent in the same week during 2017.
Based on MBA’s numbers, interest rates on jumbo mortgages were 13 basis points less than conforming rates. The spread was just 8 BPS a week earlier, while it was unchanged from a year earlier.
