Mortgage Loan Rates Rise While Applications Decline

August 1, 2018 by Paul Ausick

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a decline of 2.6% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending July 27. Mortgage loan rate movements were mostly higher last week.

According to Mortgage News Daily, mortgage loan rates inched higher last week, with the 30-year fixed rate loan ending the week at 4.72%, up seven basis points week over week. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds closed the week at around 2.96% on Tuesday, up by 14 basis points week over week.

On an unadjusted basis, the MBA’s composite index fell by 3% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index also decreased by 3% compared with the week ended July 20. The unadjusted purchase index also fell by 3% for the week and was 1% higher year over year.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 2% week over week and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing rose from 36.8% to 37.1%.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.4% of all applications, up from 6.3% in the prior week.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.77% to 4.84%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.72% to 4.76%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up from 4.23% to 4.29%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan increased from 4.09% to 4.17%, its highest level in the history of the MBA survey. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan were unchanged for the second consecutive week at 4.78%.

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