Mortgage applications slid further for the week ending Jan. 25, 2019, according to the newest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
MBA Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan said mortgage applications for purchase and refinances were lower over the past week, as rates nudged higher.
On an unadjusted basis, the Market Composite index retreated 3% from the previous week.
“After two weeks of decreases, the purchase index still remained roughly 6% above its long-run average, which is good news with the spring buying and selling season almost underway,” Kan continued. “Despite ongoing supply and affordability constraints, the healthy job market and underlying demographic fundamentals both point to gradual purchase growth in the coming months.”
Furthermore, Kan said refinance activity had seen a small resurgence in the past few weeks, but there still remains only a small share of borrowers left to gain from rates at the current levels.
The Refinance Index dropped 6% from the previous week while the unadjusted Purchase Index also fell 6% from a week ago and is 7% lower than the same week in 2018. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index retreated 2% from the week before.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 42% of total applications, falling from 44.5% the previous week.
The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity fell to 7.9% of total applications.
The Federal Housing Administration's share of mortgage apps held its ground from last week’s 10.5% and the Veterans Affairs' share of applications increased, moving forward from 10.3% the previous week to 10.7% this week.
The Department of Agriculture's share of total applications also held its ground from 0.4% last week.
The MBA reported that mortgage interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($484,350 or less) slid from the previous week, rising from 4.75% to 4.76%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $484,350) slightly increased from last week’s 4.59% to 4.6% this week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA moderately fell to 4.77% this week from 4.82% last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased from 4.12% last week to 4.16% this week.
Lastly, the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs moved forward to 4.14%, increasing from 4.12% last week.
