Purchase Apps Pick Up Some Slack From Falling Refi Volume

Mortgage applications declined again during the week ended February 20.  The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that its Market Composite Index, a measure of application volume, was down 3.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week ended February 13.  There was also an adjustment to the data to account for the Presidents' Day Holiday which fell during the week.  On a non-adjusted basis the volume was down 12 percent from the previous week.

Refinancing activity continued to retreat.  The Refinance Index decreased 8 percent from the previous week and the refinancing share of applications fell from 66 percent to 62 percent, the fourth decline in five weeks. 

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index lost 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 2 percent lower than during the same week in 2014. 

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

The share of FHA-backed applications increased 1 basis point to 15.3 percent and the VA share was 9.6 percent compared to 8.0 percent the prior week.  USDA/RHA applications remained unchanged at a 0.9 percent share.

Both the average contract interest rate and the effective rate increased for most products surveyed by MBA's Weekly Mortgage Application Survey. 

The contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to an average of 3.99 percent from 3.93 percent, with points decreasing to 0.33 from 0.35.

The rate for a jumbo 30-year FRM with loan balances greater than $417,000 increased to 4.09 percent from 3.92 percent, with points decreasing to 0.21 from 0.28.

FHA-backed 30-year FRM had a rate of 3.82 point with 0.15 point compared to 3.73 percent with 0.12 point.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.28 percent from 3.24 percent, with points decreasing to 0.30 from 0.35.  

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.2 percent of total applications from 5.3 percent the previous week.  The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.28 percent from 3.09 percent, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.47.

MBA's application survey has been conducted weekly since 1990 among mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts.  The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.   Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100 and rate information presumes mortgages with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio with points including the origination fee.