The on and off refinancing boomlet that has sporadically driven mortgage application volume since the first of the year went missing again during the week ended February 6. The Mortgage Bankers Association said that its Market Composite Index, a measure of application volume, retreated from the previous week's activity as did most of the index components as interest rates rose from near record lows.
The Composite Index was down 9.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the week ended January 30 and it lost 7 percent on an unadjusted basis. The Refinance Index, declined 10 percent as the refinancing share of all mortgage applications dropped from 71 to 69 percent.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 7 percent from a week earlier and the unadjusted index was 1 percent lower than both the previous week and the same week in 2014.
Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed
Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed
The FHA share of total applications increased from 13.1 percent to 14.1 percent while the VA applications lost 2 basis points to take an 8.3 percent share. USDA applications made up 0.7 percent of the total compared to 0.6 percent the previous week.
Interest rates as a whole continued to bounce back off of the spring 2013 levels they had reached in early January. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 3.84 percent, the highest level since January 9, 2015, from 3.79 percent. Points increased to 0.31 from 0.29 and the effective rate increased.
Jumbo 30-year FRM, loans with balances over $417,000, had an average interest rate of 3.90 percent with 0.19 point. A week earlier the average rate had been 3.82 percent with 0.22 point. The effective rate increased as well.
Interest rates for FHA backed 30-year FRM rose on average by three basis points to 3.72 percent. Points increased from 0.07 to 0.13 and the effective rate increased.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.15 percent from 3.14 percent, with points decreasing to 0.29 from 0.31. The effective rate remained unchanged from the prior week.
The share of adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) applications rose slightly from a 5.3 percent share to 5.7 percent and the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs went from 0.03 percent to 3.07 percent. Points increased to 0.44 from 0.39 and the effective rate also rose
MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey which has been conducted since 1990 covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100 and interest rates information is based on mortgages with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio and points include the origination fee.
