Mortgage Loan Rates Fell Last Week
The Mortgage Bankers Association weekly report on mortgage applications noted an increase of 3.8% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index.
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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) weekly report on mortgage applications released Wednesday morning noted an increase of 3.8% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index. That followed a drop of 0.2% for the previous week. Mortgage loan rates fell on all types of loans for the week ending October 3.
The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 2% compared with the prior week’s report. On an unadjusted basis, the composite index increased by 4% week-over-week. The unadjusted purchase index rose by 2% for the week and remains 8% lower year-over-year.
Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 7.8% of all applications, up from 7.6% in the prior week.
The MBA’s refinance index increased by 5.0%, after declining by 0.3% in the previous week. The share of refinancings remained unchanged at 56% of all applications.
The average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 4.33% to 4.30%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped from 4.28% to 4.21%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage declined from 3.55% to 3.48%.
The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan declined from 3.31% to 3.20%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed rate loan dropped from 4.07% to 4.0%.
Home price increases continue to slow their pace of growth. CoreLogic reported Tuesday that the home price increase in August rose 0.3% month-over-month and 6.4% year-over-year. In July, home prices rose 7.4% year-over-year and 1.2% month-over-month. As the price increases slow down, more buyers, and especially more first-time buyers, become interested in buying a house.
ALSO READ: U.S. Home Price Increases Still Slowing
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.