Heading into the holiday weekend, mortgage application volume held steady. Purchase-money activity was up, and refinances were lower — though refinance share was the widest it’s been in nearly six months. Veterans’ share was the thinnest it’s been in over three months.
Adjusting for seasonal factors, the volume of new retail residential loan applications during the seven days ended Aug. 31 was about the same as in the previous week.
That was based on the Market Composite Index, which fell 2 percent from the preceding seven-day period when no adjustments are made for seasonal factors.
The index is derived from the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, which the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.
Applications for loans to refinance an existing mortgage slipped a percent from the week ended Aug. 24. Despite the dip, refinance share widened to 38.9 percent — it’s fattest share since it was 39.4 percent in the week ended March 23 — from 38.7 percent the preceding week. But the share has been slashed from 50.9 percent the same week in 2017.
Purchase applications rose 1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. Without the adjustments, there was a 2 percent decline, though a 2 percent year-over-year rise was recorded.
Of all applications completed,
10.2 percent were for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The share was no different than in last week’s report but wider than 9.6 percent in the week ended Sept. 1, 2017.
Applications for mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs made up a 10th of total applications — the thinnest share since it was 9.9 percent in the week ended May 25. VA share was more narrow than 10.5 percent the previous week but more broad than 9.7 percent a year previous.
Adjustable-rate mortgage applications accounted for 6.1 percent of the latest week’s activity, 6.3 percent of the prior seven days’ volume, and 7.2 percent of applications one year prior.
Using MBA’s data, jumbo interest rates were 13 basis points lower than conforming rates. The spread widened from 10 BPS in the last report
and in the year-earlier report.
