Mortgage application volume dips
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 17, 2013, mortgage application volume fell 9.8 percent from the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis, dipping 10 percent on an unadjusted basis. The culprit? Primarily refinance applications which took a nosedive of 12 percent in one week, while purchase applications only dipped 4 percent.
“Mortgage rates increased to their highest level since March last week, leading to the largest single week drop in refinance applications this year,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics.
“The refinance index has fallen almost 19 percent over the past two weeks and is back to its lowest level since late March. Purchase activity declined over the week but is still running about 10 percent above last year’s pace at this time,” Fratantoni added.
For most of 2012, the refinance share of mortgage activity hovered steadily around 80 percent, but continues to slowly decline, as it fell to 76 percent last week, and now slipping to 74 percent in the current week of reporting. Meanwhile, the HARP share of refinance applications increased from 30 percent last week to 32 percent this week.
Average contract interest rates
According to the MBA:
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 3.78 percent from 3.67 percent, with points decreasing to 0.39 from 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) increased to 3.93 percent from 3.87 percent, with points increasing to 0.36 from 0.25 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.53 percent from 3.43 percent, with points decreasing to 0.13 from 0.16 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
- The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 2.96 percent from 2.88 percent, with points increasing to 0.32 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
