Even in a time of market turbulence, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications rose 3.2% from one week earlier, according to data from its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 6.
The MBA reported that the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, rose 3.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4.1% compared with the previous week.
“Financial markets were volatile last week amid the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East. Mortgage rates increased on net over the week, while refinance volume was roughly flat. Borrowers in recent weeks were able to get 30-year conforming rates below 6 percent, but with the current volatility, longer-term rates have moved up, pushing up the 30-year fixed rate to 6.19 percent,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and Chief Economist. “Purchase activity increased last week, particularly for FHA loans, which moved up more than 11 percent. The pace of homebuying continues to track ahead of last year’s pace, with overall purchase volume up 10 percent. More inventory on the market is supporting more transactions.”
MBA said that the Refinance Index was up 0.5% from the previous week and was 81% higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 7.8% from one week earlier.
Refinance Activity Fell
And, the unadjusted Purchase Index increased 9.3% compared with the previous week and was 11% higher than the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity fell to 57.8% of total applications from 59.8% the previous week, MBA reported. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 8.9% of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications rose to 17.1% from 15.8 percent the week prior, according to MBA’s data. The VA share of total applications fell to 16.1% from 17.1% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications was unchanged at 0.4%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($832,750 or less) increased to 6.19% from 6.09 percent, with points increasing to 0.58 from 0.52 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
MBA said the effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $832,750) increased to 6.26% from 6.16%, with points falling to 0.3 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate was up from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 6.02% from 5.97%, with points increasing to 0.70 from 0.62 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.54% from 5.49%, with points increasing to 0.68 from 0.60 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs fell to 5.26% from 5.32%, with points increasing to 0.64 from 0.51 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week, MBA said.
