Mortgage Loan Rates Tick Higher, Applications Flat

November 22, 2017 by Paul Ausick

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting an increase of 0.1% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending November 17. During the week, mortgage loan rates rose on four of five loan types that the MBA tracks.

On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 2% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 5% compared with the week ended November 10. The unadjusted purchase index increased by 1% for the week, and is now 4% higher year over year.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 5% week over week and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing fell from 53.1% to 49.91%.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.5% of all applications, up 0.1 percentage points from the prior week.

Bond markets remain solidly range-bound and within a narrow range. Yesterday’s rate on 10-year Treasuries was down a tick at 2.3524% and the most prevalently quoted mortgage rate was 4.00% on a 30-year fixed rate loan. Five-year adjustables were quoted at 2.75% to 3.25%, according to Mortgage News Daily.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.18% to 4.20%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 4.12% to 4.16%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.54% to 3.56%, its highest level since March.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan dipped from 3.41% to 3.31%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed rate loan rose from 4.05% to 4.08%, the highest level since July.

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