Mortgage Applications Uptick in March, Refinances Dip

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 4, 2016, U.S. mortgage applications increased 0.2 percent from one week earlier.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 1 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 2 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 4 percent to the highest level since January 2016. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 6 percent compared with the previous week and was 30 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 56.7 percent of total applications from 58.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.2 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications remained unchanged at 12.0 percent from the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 12.6 percent from 12.1 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications increased to 0.8 percent from 0.7 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 3.89 percent from 3.83 percent, with points decreasing to 0.38 from  0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to 3.81 percent from 3.75 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.31 (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 increased to 3.71 percent from 3.67 percent, with points decreasing to 0.37 from 0.40 (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 increased to 3.14 percent from 3.13 percent, with points increasing to 0.41 from 0.31 (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 increased to 3.20 percent from 3.02 percent, with points increasing to 0.32 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.