Refinance Activity Falls, Purchase Apps Lackluster

A modest uptick in purchase mortgage applications during the week endedrnApril 24 was insufficient to offset a sizable drop in refinancing.  The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) saidrnthat its seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of overallrnmortgage application volume, which had risen by 2.3 percent the previous week,rnfell back by the same percentage and was down by 2.0 percent on an unadjusted basisrncompared to the previous week.rn</p

The Refinance Index dropped by 4 percent from its level during the weekrnended April 17.  The refinance share ofrnmortgage activity was at 55 percent down from 56 percent the previous week andrnits lowest level since last September.  </p

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index was unchanged week-over-week andrnthe unadjusted Purchase Index was up 1 percent. rnThe latter index, however, was 21 percent higher than during the samernweek in 2014.  The average loanrnsize for purchase applications rose to a survey highrnof $297,000.</p

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed</p

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Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed</p

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The FHA share of total applications increased to 13.7 percentrnfrom 13.6 percent the previousrnweek and the VA share rose from 11.0 percent to 11.3 percent.  ThernUSDA share of total applications remained unchanged atrn0.8 percent.</p

The contract interest rate and effectivernrate increased for all fixed-rate mortgage products.  The average contract rate for a 30-year fixed-raternmortgage (FRM) with conforming balances of $417,000 increased 2 basis points torn3.85 percent and points increased to 0.35 from 0.32. </p

Thirty-year FRM with jumbo loan balancesrnover $417,000 posted an average rate of 3.82 percent with 0.31 point.  The previous week the average rate was 3.83rnpercent with 0.22 point.  </p

The rate for 30-year FRM backed by the FHArnincreased to 3.66 percent from 3.65 percent.  Points increased to 0.16 from 0.12</p

Interest rates for 15-year FRM averaged 3.14 percent with 0.31rnpoint.  A week earlier the rate was 3.11rnpercent with 0.24 point</p

The average contract interest rate for 5/1rnadjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) decreased to 2.88 percent from 2.89 percent,rnwith points decreasing to 0.27 from 0.29. This was the sole product for which the effectivernrate decreased during the week.  ARMrnapplications took a 5.7 percent share of mortgage applications compared to 5.6rnpercent the previous week.  </p

MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Application Surveyrnhas been conducted since 1990.  The surveyrncovers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.  Respondentsrninclude mortgage bankers,rncommercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes isrnMarch 16, 1990=100 and informationrnon interest rates are based on loans with an 80 percent loan to valuernratio.  Points include the originationrnfee.

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