Mortgage Refinance Applications Uptick in U.S.

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 16, 2014, mortgage applications in the U.S. increased 0.9 percent from one week earlier.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.4 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 4 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week and was 12 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

"Renewed concerns about the state of the global economy, particularly in Europe, led to a flight to quality to US Treasury securities, thereby pushing interest rates down in the US," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Chief Economist.  "Rates on conforming loans hit 6 month lows and jumbo rates hit 12 month lows.  Refinance volume picked up somewhat as a result, but it still remains more than 65 percent below last year's pace.  Purchase volume continues to run more than 10 percent below last year's pace."

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 52 percent of total applications from 50 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 8 percent of total applications.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.33 percent, the lowest rate since November 2013, from 4.39 percent, with points decreasing to 0.20 from  0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent 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 $417,000) decreased to 4.24 percent, the lowest rate since May 2013, from 4.29 percent, with points decreasing to 0.1 from 0.16 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 4.06 percent, the lowest rate since October 2013, from 4.09 percent, with points decreasing to -0.39 from -0.17 (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 decreased to 3.43 percent, the lowest rate since October 2013, from 3.48 percent, with points increasing to 0.15 from 0.12 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.14 percent from 3.17 percent, with points increasing to 0.29 from 0.24 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.