The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a week-over-week increase of 3.6% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending August 14. That followed an increase of 0.1% for the week ending August 7. Mortgage loan rates fell on all types of loans last week, with most types posting their lowest levels since May.
On an unadjusted basis, the composite index increased by 3% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index fell by 1% compared to the week ended August 7. The unadjusted purchase index decreased by 3% for the week and is now 19% higher year over year.
The MBA’s refinance index increased by 7% week over week to its highest level since May, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing rose from 53.1% to 55.5%.
Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.9% of all applications, up from 6.8% in the prior week.
The MBA’s vice-president of research and economics, Lynn Fisher, said:
Concerns about the Chinese economy pushed interest rates down last week, resulting in a two basis point decline in thirty year fixed interest rate, bringing the rate down to its lowest since May 2015. The pick-up in refinance activity was led by larger loan sizes on average, as continued investor interest drove jumbo interest rates down even further, by five basis points.
According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped from 4.13% to 4.11%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 4.08% to 4.03%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 3.39% to 3.37%.
The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan decreased from 3.11% to 2.98%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan dropped from 3.94% to 3.88%.
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