Mortgage Loan Rates Mixed, Applications Increased Last Week

July 11, 2018 by Paul Ausick

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting an increase of 2.5% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending July 6. Mortgage loan rate movements were mixed last week.

Mortgage loan rates ticked down last week, with the 30-year fixed rate loan ending the week right where it began, at 4.65%, according to Mortgage News Daily. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds rose to just over 2.87% on Tuesday, an increase of 0.01 percentage point week over week.

On an unadjusted basis, the MBA’s composite index decreased by 18% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 7% compared with the week ended June 29. The unadjusted purchase index decreased by 15% for the week and was 8% higher year over year. The numbers include an adjustment for the shortened holiday week.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 4% week over week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing fell from 37.2% to 34.8%, the lowest level since August 2008.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.3% of all applications, down from 6.7% in the prior week.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped from 4.79% 4.76%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped from 4.71% to 4.68%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 4.22% to 4.18%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan increased from 4.03% to 4.13%, the highest level in the history of the MBA survey. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan rose from 4.78% to 4.80%.

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