MBA Mortgage Applications Rebound for Week Ending September 8

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey increased 9.9% for the week ending September 8, 2017. This week’s survey included an adjustment for the Labor Day holiday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 9.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell 13% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 9% from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index gained 11% from one week earlier.  The unadjusted Purchase Index fell 13% compared with the previous week and was 7% higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 51.0% of total applications from 50.9% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 6.7% of total applications.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) share of total applications also gained to 9.9% from 9.6% the week prior, while the Veterans Administration (VA) share of total applications gained to 10.3% from 9.7% the week prior. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) share of total applications remained unchanged from the week prior at 0.7%.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) fell to 4.03% from 4.06%, with points increasing to 0.40 from 0.38 (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 with jumbo loan balances (greater than $424,100) increased to 4.00% from 3.96%, with points increasing to 0.24 from 0.20 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.94% from 3.98%, with points decreasing to 0.34 from 0.35 (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 fell to 3.30% from 3.34%, with points increasing to 0.39 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.17% from 3.14%, with points increasing to 0.36 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.