Same Old Story - Rates up, Applications down

Mortgage applications declined yet again during the week ended June 26.  The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a gauge of mortgage volume, was down 4.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended June 26 when compared to the week before.  On a non-seasonally adjusted basis the index was down 5.0 percent.  Both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted the Composite Index have lost ground for ten of the last 12 weeks.

The Refinance Index decreased 5 percent from the previous week to its lowest level since December 2014 and the refinance share of mortgage activity ticked down 0.1 percent to 48.9 percent. The Purchase Index decreased 4 percent from one week earlier when seasonally adjusted and 5 percent unadjusted.  Despite weeks of declining activity the unadjusted Purchase Index remained 14 percent higher than during the same week in 2014.

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

The FHA share of total applications increased from 13.9 percent during the week ended June 26 to 14.0 percent while the VA share declined from 10.9 percent to 10.8 percent.  The USDA share increased to 1.0 percent from 0.9 percent.

Average interest rates rose on both a contract and an effective basis for all loan products tracked by MBA's Mortgage Application Survey.  The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.26 percent, the highest level since October 2014, from 4.19 percent.  Points decreased to 0.33 from 0.38.

The contract rate for 30-year FRM with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to 4.21 percent, the highest level since October 2014, from 4.14 percent.  Points increased to 0.38 from 0.35.

Thirty-year FRM backed by the FHA had an average contract interest rate of 4.04 percent, the highest since September 2014, from 3.96 percent.  Points averaged 0.18 compared to 0.14 a week earlier.

The average rate for 15-year FRM s increased to 3.44 percent, its highest level since October 2014, from 3.38 percent.  Points decreased to 0.31 from 0.37.  

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) increased 5 basis points to 3.09 percent.  Points dipped by 0.01 to 0.45 and ARMs retained the same 7.0 percent market share of the previous week.

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