Mortgage loan and refinance applications increased last week, while average rates on long-term mortgages also increased, according to an industry survey released today.
The market composite index, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 725.6, up 5.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the trade group’s survey today.
The MBA’s refinance index increased 3.4 percent to 2,724.7 from 2,636 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 8.1 percent to 384.7 from 356 one week earlier.
Though applications for refinancings were up in the latest survey, the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 52.2 percent of total applications from 53.4 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.5 from 5.4 percent of total applications from the previous week.
As mortgage loan application activity picked up, average rates on mortgages also increased last week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.78 percent from 5.75 percent, with points decreasing to 1.11 from 1.19 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.39 percent from 5.27 percent, with points decreasing to 1.11 from 1.13 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 7.06 percent from 7.00 percent, with points increasing to 1.46 from 1.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
