Mortgage Application Activity....Zzzzzzz

Mortgage application volume was essentially flat during the week ended October 30.  The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index a measure of application volume, ended the week down 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the week ended October 23.  The unadjusted index was 1.0 percent lower.  

The Refinance Index was down 1 percent from the previous week however the refinance share of activity rose slightly to 59.7 percent of all mortgage applications compared to 59.5 percent during the prior period.

Applications for purchase mortgages dipped 1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and were down 2 percent unadjusted.  The latter was 20 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 decreased to 13.2 percent from 13.7 percent a week earlier and the VA share of shrunk to 11.9 percent from 12.3 percent. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.7 percent.

Interest rates averaged slightly higher during the week with all contract rates up from the week before and effective rates rising for all but the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM).

The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRM with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.01 percent from 3.98 percent. Points increasing to 0.47 from 0.44. The jumbo version of the 30-year FRM, loans with balances greater than $417,000, increased to 3.90 percent from 3.88 percent, with points increasing to 0.34 from 0.33.

FHA backed 30-year FRM had an average rate of 3.81 percent with 0.32 point.  A week earlier the rate was 3.80 percent with 0.30 point.

The contract rate for the 15-year FRM rose 2 basis points to 3.24 percent. Points decrease to 0.37 from 0.44.  The effective rate remained unchanged from the previous week.

Applications for adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) bumped up from 6.6 percent of total applications 60 6.7 percent.  The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.12 percent from 3.03 percent, with points decreasing to 0.25 from 0.34.

MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.  The survey, which has been conducted since 1990, is conducted among mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.  Interest rate information is based on loans with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio and points that include the origination fee.