Mortgage Loan Rates Dipped to 2-Month Lows Last Week

September 28, 2016 by Paul Ausick

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a week-over-week decrease of 0.7% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending September 23. Mortgage loan rates dipped on all five types of loans this past week.

On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 1% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 1% compared with the week ended September 16. The unadjusted purchase index was unchanged for the week and is now 10% higher year over year.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 2% week over week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing slipped from 63.1% to 62.7%.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 4.4% of all applications, unchanged from the previous week.

Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily noted on Tuesday that even though mortgage rates are near two-month lows, the range of movement has been “exceptionally small” and most of the rate movements have resulted from upfront costs (the famous “points”). Over the past week, however, the mortgage rate itself has dropped an eighth of a point.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 3.70% to 3.66%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 3.69% to 3.64%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 2.99% to 2.95%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan fell from 2.96% to 2.92%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan decreased from 3.56% to 3.52%.

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