U.S. Mortgage Applications Up, Driven by Refinances

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Based on new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 29, mortgage applications increased 4.0 percent from one week earlier.

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 increased 4.1 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 6.0 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 1.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 36.9 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.9 percent. The four week moving average is down 2.4 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average remained unchanged for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 62.7 percent of total applications from 61.6 percent the previous week. This is the highest refinance share of the month. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.7 percent from 6.5 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased for the third consecutive week to 4.76 percent from 4.80 percent, with points decreasing to 0.76 from 1.00 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This is the lowest 30-year fixed contract rate since December 3, 2010. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.96 percent from 4.03 percent, with points decreasing to 0.82 from 0.96 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. This is the lowest 15-year fixed contract rate since November 26, 2010. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

 

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