U.S. Mortgage Applications Jump 4 Percent in Mid-January

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 20, 2017, U.S. mortgage applications increased 4.0 percent from one week earlier. This week's results included an adjustment for the MLK Day holiday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 4.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 0.2 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 6 percent from one week earlier to its highest level since June 2016. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 0.1 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 50.0 percent of total applications, the lowest level since July 2015, from 53.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 5.7 percent of total applications. The average loan size for purchase applications increased to $309,200, its highest level since December 16th, 2016.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 13.6 percent from 13.1 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 12.2 percent from 12.1 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.9 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,000 or less) increased to 4.35 percent from 4.27 percent, with points decreasing to 0.30 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 $424,000) increased to 4.28 percent from 4.22 percent, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.36 (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 4.19 percent from 4.10 percent, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.28 (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 3.57 percent from 3.51 percent, with points decreasing to 0.28 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 3.41 percent from 3.44 percent, with points increasing to 0.30 from 0.21 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.