Mortgage Applications, Rates Hit Summer Doldrums

With the distortions of the Independence Day holiday week and the subsequent week's recovery now history mortgage application activity settled down.  Really settled down.  As measured by the Mortgage Bankers Associations Market Composite Index the volume of mortgage applications during the week ended July 17 barely stirred from their levels of the previous week.  The index increased 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and 0.4 percent when unadjusted.

The Refinance Index was up 1 percent from the week before and the share of refinancing applications dipped to 50.3 percent of all applications from 5.8 percent the week before.  Both the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Purchase Indices rose 1 percent from the previous week and the unadjusted index was 18 percent higher than during the same week in 2014.

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

The government share of mortgage applications rose slightly with applications for FHA mortgages increasing to 14.0 percent form 13.8 percent and those for VA mortgages up from 10.8 percent to 11.3 percent.  The USDA share of total applications was unchanged at 0.9 percent.

Like application volumes, interest rates during the week were mixed and relatively flat.  The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) remained unchanged at 4.23 percent, with points decreasing to 0.34 from 0.39.  The effective rate was down from the previous week.

Jumbo 30-year FRM (with balances greater than $417,000) had an average rate of 4.16 percent with 0.33 point.  During the week ended July 10 the rate was 4.20 percent with 0.28 point.  The effective rate for these loans declined week-over-week.   

Thirty-year FRM backed by the FHA had an average rate of 4.0 percent, a decrease of 2 basis points from the week before.  Points decreased to 0.17 from 0.26 and the effective rate was also lower.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRM was unchanged at 3.43 percent, with points increasing to 0.34 from 0.33.  The effective rate increased.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) decreased to 3.08 percent from 3.13 percent and points dipped to 0.41 from 0.42.  The effective rate decreased from the previous week.  The market share of ARMs eased from 7.4 to 7.3 percent of mortgage applications.

MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications survey, which has been conducted since 1990, covers over 75 percent of 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 information is based on loans with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio with points that include the origination fee.