Mortgage applications decreased 2.3% from one week earlier, according to the latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA), released Thursday. The drop marks the third straight week of declines, indicating that market headwinds continue to hinder both refinancing and new mortgages.
Key findings:
- The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
- On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3% compared with the previous week.
- The Refinance Index decreased 5% from the previous week and was 75% lower than the same week one year ago.
- The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2% compared with the previous week and was 14% lower than the same week one year ago.
- The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 31.5% of total applications from 32.3% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 8.7% of total applications.
- The FHA share of total applications decreased to 10.8% from 11.3% the week prior.
- The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.2% from 10.4% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.5% from the week prior.
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) decreased to 5.33% from 5.46%, with points decreasing to 0.51 from 0.60 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $647,200) decreased to 4.93% from 5.02%, with points remaining unchanged at 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 5.20% from 5.36%, with points decreasing to 0.69 from 0.82 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
- The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.59% from 4.72%, with points decreasing to 0.63 from 0.70 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
- The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 4.46% from 4.49%, with points decreasing to 0.68 from 0.76 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The takeaway:
“Mortgage rates fell for the fourth time in five weeks, as concerns of weaker economic growth and the recent stock market sell-off drove Treasury yields lower. Mortgage applications decreased to the lowest level since December 2018, as the purchase market continues to struggle with supply and affordability challenges,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “With the 30-year fixed rate at 5.33 percent, the refinance market continues to shrink, led by larger decreases last week for FHA and VA refinance applications. The refinance index was 75 percent below last year’s level, when rates were more than 200 basis points lower.”
Added Kan, “Purchase applications last week were 14 percent lower than last year, with more activity in the larger loan sizes. Demand is high at the upper end of the market, and supply and affordability challenges are not as detrimental to these borrowers as they are to first-time buyers.”
