Mortgage Applications Dip in U.S. in Late July

According to he Mortgage Bankers Association's latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 27, 2018, U.S. mortgage applications decreased 2.6 percent from one week earlier,

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 2 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 1 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 37.1 percent of total applications from 36.8 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.4 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 10.4 percent from 9.9 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 10.5 percent from 10.2 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.8 percent from the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) increased to 4.84 percent from 4.77 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.45 (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 $453,100) increased to 4.76 percent from 4.72 percent, with points increasing to 0.37 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 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA remained unchanged at 4.78 percent, with points increasing to 0.74 from 0.73 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.29 percent from 4.23 percent, with points increasing to 0.53 from 0.44 (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 its highest level in the history of the survey, 4.17 percent from 4.09 percent, with points increasing to 0.32 from 0.29 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.