MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey Rises 8.3% for Week Ending January 5

The Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey rose 8.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending January 5, 2018. The survey covers over 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990.

On an unadjusted basis, the Market Composite Index rose 46% compared with the previous week, while the Refinance Index gained 11% during the same period. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index gained 44% juxtaposed to the previous week and was 1% lower than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 52.9 percent of total applications from 52.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.0 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 11.1 percent from 10.8 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications remained unchanged from the week prior at 11.4 percent. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.7 percent from 0.8 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) increased to 4.23 percent from 4.22 percent, with points decreasing to 0.35 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $453,100) increased to 4.16 percent from 4.14 percent, with points increasing to 0.23 from 0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent 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 4.16 percent from 4.17 percent, with points increasing to 0.42 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.66 percent from 3.64 percent, with points increasing to 0.42 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.50 percent from 3.53 percent, with points decreasing to 0.51 from 0.53 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.