Home loan application volume sank 14.2 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier as interest rates climbed considerably, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.
According to the trade group, the decrease was led by a 20.2 percent drop in the index that tracks refinancings, followed by a 6.4 percent decline in purchase loan applications.
Interest rates on long-term loans climbed an average of 32 basis points last week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages jumping from 5.74 percent to 6.04 percent and the average on 15-year fixed loans rising from 5.27 percent to 5.6 percent. The points that borrowers paid to attain these rates dipped from 1.05 to 1.04 on the 30-year loans and fell from 1.19 to 1.06 on the 15-year loans.
On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), the average interest rate decreased to 6.93 percent from 7.02 percent, but average points paid gained from 1.28 to 1.38.
In MBA’s survey, the refinance share of loan applications fell to 49.2 percent, down from 53.5 percent during the second week of April, while the ARM share edged up from 6 percent to 6.6 percent.
The Mortgage Bankers Association survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.
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