It was a mixed and largely directionless week for mortgage applications as the volume of applications for home purchases inched up fractionally while applications for refinancing fell.  The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composite Index, a measure of loan application volume was down slightly during the week ended July 25 on both a seasonally adjusted and a non-adjusted basis with the former decreasing 2.2 percent and the latter 2.0 percent compared to the previous week.

The Refinance Index fell 4 percent, wiping out an identical gain during the week ended July 18.  The share of applications that were for refinancing declined from 54.4 percent to 53 percent.

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.2 percent and the unadjusted index was up 1 percent compared to the previous week.  The unadjusted purchase index fell 12 percent from its level during the same week in 2013.

Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

Fixed rate mortgage interest rates were also flat.  The average contract rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) was unchanged from the previous week at 4.33 percent.  Points rose to 0.24 from 0.23 and the effective rate increased.

Interest rates for 30-year jumbo FRM with loan balances in excess of $417,000 inched up an average of one basis point to 4.22 percent.  Points increased to 0.23 from 0.20 and the effective rate increased.

Average interest rates for 30-year FRM backed by FHA remained at 4.03 percent, the same as the previous week, while points decreased to 0.00 from 0.15.  The effective rate declined.

Also unchanged were contract rates for 15-year FRM.  While points decreased to 0.25 from 0.28, the rate were flat at 3.47 percent and the effective rate was also unchanged.

The market share for adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) remained at 8 percent of all applications.  The rate for 5/1 ARMs increased from 3.21 percent with 0.32 point to 3.31 percent with 0.40 point and the effect rate increased.

Application volume and interest rate information are gathered by MBA through a Weekly Mortgage Application Survey which it has conducted since 1990.  The survey is conducted among mortgage banks, commercial banks, and thrifts and covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.  Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.  Interest rate quotes assume a mortgage with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio and points include the origination fee.