Mortgage Loan Rates Edge Toward Year-to-Date Highs
The latest Mortgage Bankers Association report on mortgage applications noted a week-over-week decrease in the group's seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending May 8.
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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning. It noted a week-over-week decrease of 3.5% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending May 8, following a decrease of 4.6% for the week ending May 1. Mortgage loan rates increased on all five popular loan types.
On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 3% week-over-week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index slipped 0.2%, compared to the week ended May 1. The unadjusted purchase index ticked up 0.1% for the week and remained 12% higher year-over-year.
The MBA’s refinance index decreased 6% week-over-week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing dropped from 52% to 51%, the lowest level since May of 2014.
Mortgage loans rose to near year-to-date highs last week, and a report on Tuesday from Mortgage Daily News noted “the average lender is quoting conventional 30yr fixed rates of 4.0%” on its top-tier loans. That is up from 3.625% just a few weeks ago, the sharpest move upward in about two years.
And if you are looking for a loan, Mortgage Daily News says:
[E]very day is a good day to lock rates simply because we don’t have any recent track record of stability. Every ‘tomorrow’ could see a big move higher in rates, and that will continue to [be] a bigger risk than normal (because there’s ALWAYS SOME risk that rates will rise tomorrow) until the current trend changes. [Emphasis in original]
Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.3% of all applications, up from 6.1% in the prior week.
The FHA share of all applications dropped from 14.0% a week ago to 13.8%, and the VA share remained unchanged at 11.9%.
The average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.93% to 4.00%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.91% to 3.99%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 3.19% to 3.23%.
The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan increased from 2.87% to 3.00%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan rose from 3.70% to 3.76%.
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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.
