Mortgage Applications in U.S. Spike 11 Percent in Late August

---

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 28, 2015, mortgage applications increased 11.3 percent from one week earlier.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 11.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 10 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 17 percent from the previous week to its highest level since April 2015. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 4 percent from one week earlier to its highest level since July 2015. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 25 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

"Although mortgage rates were unchanged for the week, Treasury rates were down sharply early in the week due to the global stock market rout and this led to a significant increase in application volume," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Chief Economist.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 58.7 percent of total applications from 55.3 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.5 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 12.7 percent from 13.1 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 9.8 percent from 11.4 percent the week prior. 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 ($417,000 or less) remained unchanged at 4.08 percent, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.36 (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 $417,000) increased to 4.05 percent from 4.00 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.24 (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 3.87 percent from 3.90 percent, with points increasing to 0.32 from 0.21 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.30 percent from 3.33 percent, with points decreasing to 0.26 from 0.31 (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 increased to 3.05 percent from 2.96 percent, with points unchanged at 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.