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Mortgage Apps Rise in Latest Survey

ups-and-downs-graphAn increase in demand for refinancing boosted mortgage application activity heading into mid-August, continuing a long and unsteady summer for application numbers.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 1.4 percent seasonally adjusted bump in application volumes for the week ending August 15, a partial reversal from the 2.7 percent decline reported the week prior. Unadjusted, application levels were up 1 percent week-on-week.

While last week's results were lifted by improvement in applications for conventional mortgages, they were also weighed down by a 5.9 percent decrease in applications for government mortgages, both on the purchase and refinance side.

"Within the government sector, this decline was led by an 8 percent decline in unadjusted Department of Veterans Affairs applications, while Federal Housing Administration and Rural Housing Service unadjusted applications also fell by 5 percent and 3 percent respectively," said MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

The trade group's index for refinance applications climbed 3 percent from the last survey, lifting the refinance share of mortgage activity to 55 percent of total applications.

Refinance numbers were helped by a decrease in mortgage interest rates. According to MBA, the average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate conforming loan was 4.29 percent for the week, a dip from 4.35 percent, with points increasing to 0.26 for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.

"Interest rates dropped last week as a result of the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine and other international concerns, which in turn pushed mortgage rates lower," Fratantoni said.

The seasonally adjusted measure of purchase applications, meanwhile, fell 0.4 percent from the previous week's survey. Unadjusted, that index was down 2 percent week-over-week and 11 percent year-over-year.

About Author: Tory Barringer

Tory Barringer began his journalism career in early 2011, working as a writer for the University of Texas at Arlington's student newspaper before joining the DS News team in 2012. In addition to contributing to DSNews.com, he is also the online editor for DS News' sister publication, MReport, which focuses on mortgage banking news.
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