MBA Mortgage Applications Bounce Back Strong

The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) gained 6.3% for the week ending July 14, 2017. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 33% juxtaposed to the prior week on an unadjusted basis and by 7% from the prior year.

Refinance applications share of mortgage activity gained to 44.7% of total applications, up from 42.1% for the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 6.7% of total applications.

The share of total applications for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) gained to 10.7%, up from 10.4% last week. 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 0.7%, 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–remained unchanged at 4.22%, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80% 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 4.10%, down from 4.12%. Points decreased to 0.30 from 0.40 (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 to 3.48%, down from 3.50%. Points decreased to 0.39 from 0.45 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs remained unchanged at 3.32%, with points decreasing to 0.21 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, which has been conducted every week since 1990, covers over 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.