Applications for purchase loans were down 3.3 percent for the week ending June 25, but demand for refinancings picked up 12.6 percent from the previous week, with mortgage rates at or near record lows, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in releasing the results of its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Requests for refinancings were at their highest level since May 2009, the MBA said, but demand for purchase loans was down 36 percent from a year ago. Applications for refinancings accounted for 76.8 percent of all mortgage applications — the highest share since April 2009.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.67 percent from 4.75 percent, with points decreasing to 0.96 from 1.07 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This is the lowest 30-year contract rate recorded in the survey since the week ending April 24, 2009.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.06 percent from 4.19 percent, with points decreasing to 0.97 from 1 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. This is the lowest 15-year contract rate ever recorded in the survey.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs was unchanged at 7.05 percent, with points remaining constant at 0.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
Another rate survey conducted by Freddie Mac showed rates for most mortgages at record lows last week.
