Mortgage Applications Reverse 5 Week Slide

Mortgage applications reversed a five week slide during the week ended April 11 as applications for both purchasing and refinancing increased from levels the previous week.  The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported this morning that its Market Composite Index, a measure of application volume, increased 4.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the volume reported during the week ended April 4 and was 5 percent higher on an unadjusted basis.

The Refinance Index increased 7 percent from the previous week and the share of applications that were designated for refinancing ticked up for the first time since the week ended January 24, rising from 51 percent last week to 52 percent this week.

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent from one week earlier and the unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 16 percent below the same week in 2013.

Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

Both contract and effective mortgage interest rates fell during the week.  The average contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.47 percent from 4.56 percent, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.33.  The jumbo version of the 30-year FRM (loan balances of $417,000 or more) dropped 10 basis points to an average of 4.39 percent and points increased to 0.18 from 0.14.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 4.14 percent from 4.19 percent.  Points decreased to 0.06 from 0.16.

The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.54 percent with 0.24 point.  The previous week the average rate was 3.62 percent with 0.31 point.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) decreased to 3.15 percent from 3.26 percent, with points decreasing to 0.41 from 0.50. The ARM share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 8 percent of total applications.

MBA's Weekly Applications Survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.  Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100 and interest rate quotes are for mortgages with loan-to-value ratios of 80 percent.  Points include the origination fee.