Mortgage Applications Gain 3% in MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Wednesday their Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey increased by 3.0%, easily beating the forecast. On an unadjusted basis, the Index also gained 3% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index gained 5% from the previous week, while the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index ticked 1% higher from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index rose 0.3% juxtaposed to the previous week and was 7% higher than the same week one year ago.

Purchase applications indicate a solid housing market, which is driven by low mortgage rates and high levels of employment. Unemployment, at 4.3%,  is now at the lowest level it’s been since May 2001. Job openings are at their highest level ever and the job rate matched an all-time high not seen in over a year.

Refinance applications share of mortgage activity gained to 46.7% of total applications, up from 45.5% for the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.8% of total applications.

The share of total applications for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) decreased slightly to 10.2%, up from 10.3% last week. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) share of total applications gained to 0.8% from 0.7% the week prior.

The Veteran Administration (VA) share of total applications fell to 10.7%, down from 11.5% the week prior. The share for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) was 0.8%, unchanged from the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances–defined as $424,100 or less–decreased to 4.14% from 4.17%, with points increasing to 0.38 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA fell to 4.02%, down from 4.07%. Points decreased to 0.38 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased slightly to 3.41% from 3.45%, with points decreasing to 0.41 from 0.44 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased slightly to 3.31% from 3.30%, with points decreasing to 0.21 from 0.29 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.