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Mortgage activity was down across the board last week, dropping 11 percent from the previous week and by almost one-third from the same week last year, according to the _U.S. Mortgage Market Index_ from ""Mortech Inc."":http://mortech.com/ and ""_Mortgage Daily._"":http://www.mortgagedaily.com/
[IMAGE]The biggest drop over the week ending November 2 was among adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), while the smallest decline was seen among purchase financing inquiries.
[COLUMN_BREAK]ARMs were down 19.5 percent from the previous week and almost 75 percent from a year ago.
Purchase price finance inquiries were down 10.8 percent over the week, the smallest decline for the week. However, purchase activity is still significantly lower than this time last year. Current purchase rates are a little more than half of what was recorded this time last year.
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans loans fell in line with a 10.9 percent decline.
Compared to last year, FHA loans are down 29.3 percent. However, their market share is on par with last year's. FHA loans made up 10.3 percent of loans last week, while last year they made up 10 percent.
Conventional mortgages were down 11 percent and down about a third from last year.
Refinances declined 11.1 percent but made up about the same percentage of mortgage activity as the previous week--74.6 percent.
Jumbo mortgages saw the second-highest activity decline last week, falling 14.7 percent, even as the jumbo-conforming spread narrowed from 67 basis points to 63 basis points for the week ending November 2.
