Housing

Mortgage Applications Rose 5% Last Week While Loan Rate Moves Were Mixed

Paul Ausick

Published: June 20, 2018 7:20 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 10:08 pm

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting an increase of 5.1% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending June 15. Mortgage loan rate movements were mixed last week.

Even though homebuilders are suffering from higher lumber prices (up 84% in the past two years), new residential construction hit an 11-year high last month. Mortgage loan rates have slipped a few basis points over the past week, according to Mortgage News Daily, and there is no major economic data due out later this week. Barring some unexpected event, this should be a quiet week with 10-year Treasury yields remaining right around their Tuesday level of 2.91%.

On an unadjusted basis, the MBA’s composite index increased by 3% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index rose by 4% compared with the week ended June 8. The unadjusted purchase index increased by 1% for the week and is now 3% higher year over year.

The MBA’s refinance index increased by 6% week over week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing rose from 35.6% to 36.8%.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 7% of all applications, up from 6.8% in the prior week.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remained unchanged at 4.83%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.74% to 4.79%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 4.23% to 4.27%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan decreased from 4.11% to 4.06%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan slipped from 4.83% to 4.82%.

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