It was a humdrum week for mortgage applications coming off of the previous week’s highs, the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
Mortgage applications increased 1.3% from one week earlier for the week ending April 15.
This time around, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1% from one week earlier. While small, it didn’t significantly change last week’s news that the Purchase Index reached its highest level since October 2015.
On the other side, the Refinance Index increased 3% from the previous week.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 55.4% of total applications, up from 54.9% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity remained unchanged at 5% of total applications.
The Federal Housing Administration’s share of total applications decreased to 10.6% from 10.8% the week prior, as the Veteran Affairs’ share of total applications grew to 12.6% from 11.9% the week prior. The United States Department of Agriculture’s share of total applications stayed frozen at 0.8% from the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) moved higher to 3.83% from 3.82%, while the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to 3.77% from 3.74%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.64% from 3.66%, marking the lowest rate since May 2013.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.06% from 3.10%, reaching the lowest rate since May 2013.
In addition, the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 2.91% from 2.94%.
