After the Thanksgiving Holiday, mortgage applications jumped 4.7% from last week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 1, 2017.
This increase came after last week dropped at an adjusted 3.1% during the week of Thanksgiving.
The Refinance Index increased 9% from last week, making up for the previous 8% drop. The Purchase Index once again increased 2% from last week.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 51.6% of total applications, up from 48.7% the week before and its highest level since September 2017.
The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity, however, decreased to 5.7% of total applications, its lowest point since January.
The Federal Housing Administration’s share of applications increased from 10.8% last week to 11.1% this week, and the Veterans Affair’s share of applications decreased to 10.7%, up from 11% last week.
The Department of Agriculture’s share of total applications remained unchanged from last week at 0.8%.
The MBA reported mortgage interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) decreased from last week’s 4.2% to 4.19%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $424,100) increased slightly to 4.16% from 4.14% last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 4.11%, up from last week’s 4.07%.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.59% from 3.57%.
Lastly, the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.48% from 3.42%.
