The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey recorded a 9.2% decrease in the Market Composite Index, its measure of mortgage loan application volume, on a seasonally-adjusted basis during the week ending on November 11th. On an unadjusted basis, the Index fell by 10% compared with the previous week.
The Refinance index decreased by 11%, to its lowest level since March 2016. The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 6%, down to its lowest level since January, while the unadjusted Purchase Index decreased by 10%.
The refinance share of mortgage activity dropped to 61.9% of total applications, down from 62.3% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share increased to 4.7%, the FHA share increased to 12.2%, the VA share increased to 12.6%, and the USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.6%.
“Following the election, mortgage rates saw their biggest week over week increase since the taper tantrum in June 2013, and reached their highest level since January of this year,” said David H. Stevens, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, in the survey’s release. “Investor expectations of faster growth and higher inflation are driving the jump up in rates, and rates have now increased for five of the past six weeks, spurring a commensurate drop in refinance activity.”
For loans with conforming balances ($417,000 or less), the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.95% from 3.77%, reaching its highest level since January. Points for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans in this category increased to 0.39 from 0.38. (All 80% LTV loan reports include the origination fee.)
For loans with jumbo balances ($417,000 or more), the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.89% from 3.75%, also reaching its highest rate since January. Points for 80% LTV loans in this category decreased to 0.26 from 0.27.
For loans backed by the FHA, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.73% from 3.61%, its highest rate since April. Points for 80% LTV loans in this category decreased to 0.28 from 0.35.
For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, the average contract interest rate increased to 3.15% from 3.03%, its highest level since March. Points for 80% LTV loans decreased to 0.29 from 0.38. The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.11% from 2.92%, also its highest level since March. Points for 80% LTV loans decreased to 0.42 from 0.47.
