The State of Mortgage Applications

What a difference a week can make; which in this case translates into a 2% drop off on a seasonally adjusted basis in mortgage applications from a week ago, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 28.

From the prior week, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, dipped 2.0% from a week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis.

On an unadjusted basis, contrasted to the prior week. the index spiraled 3% while there was a drop of 3% from the previous week in the Refinance Index. Moreover, it ballooned 40% from the identical week a year ago. From the week before. the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index dipped 0.2%; there was a 3% plummeted in the unadjusted Purchase Index compared to the prior week, while it parachuted 28% compared to the same week a year ago.

Joel Kan, MBA's Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting , said "both conventional and government refinancing activity decreased last week, despite 30-year fixed and 15-year fixed mortgage rates declining to near historical lows. Mortgage rates have remained below 3.5 percent for five months now, and it's possible that refinance demand may be slowing and will not significantly increase again without another notable drop in rates.” Purchase applications were essentially unchanged over the week and were 28 percent higher than a year ago - the 15th straight week of year-over-year increases. Lenders are reporting that the strong demand for homebuying is coming from delayed activity from the spring, as well as households seeking more space in less densely populated areas, he continued.

Meantime, there was a dip of 62.5% of total applications from 62.6% in the refinance share of mortgage activity from the week before while, at 2.6% of total applications, the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity held.

That wasn’t the case for the FHA share of total applications, which lost ground, dropping to 10.2% compared to the prior week, which came in at 10.5%. Also leveling off was the VA share of total applications at 11.4% from the previous week, which was 11.8%. Meantime, the USDA share of total applications remained at 0.6% from the week before.

As investor’s confidence in an economic comeback receded, mortgage rates toppled—resulting in a jump in applications and a hike in refinancing, a report stated.

Mortgage applications swelled by 6.8% (on a seasonally adjusted basis) over the previous week during the week ending August 7, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

Meanwhile, the Index ballooned 6% on an unadjusted basis compared with the previous week, while there was a 9% uptick in the Refinance Index from the week before. From the same week a year ago, the Index was higher by 47%. There was a 2% jump from a week earlier in the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, with a 1% rise in in the unadjusted Purchase Index from the previous week. From the same week a year ago, it was higher by 22%.