Mortgage rates are moving on up and don’t show signs of slowing anytime soon, as the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with conforming loan balance once again reached a new record high.
At this point, it seems like mortgage rates are escalating to new highs each week, as seen here and here.
According to the latest weekly mortgage applications survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week ending Dec. 16, 2016, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to its highest level since May 2014, to 4.41%, from 4.28%.
And the other mortgage product rates followed suite.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to its highest level since April 2014, 4.36%, from 4.29%.
Similarly, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to its highest level since April 2014, 4.15%, from 4.02%.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to its highest level since January 2014, 3.64%, from 3.52%, while the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to its highest level since September 2013, 3.45%, from 3.28%.
Despite the rise, mortgage applications still managed to squeak out a small rise, increasing 2.5% from one week earlier thanks to a slight uptick in refinance and purchase demand.
The Refinance Index increased 3% from the previous week, while the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3% from one week earlier.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 57.9% of total applications from 57.2% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 6.5% of total applications, its highest level since February 2016.
In addition, the average loan size for purchase applications reached its second-highest survey level at $312,000.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 11.5% from 11.6% the week prior, while the USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.8% from 0.9% the week prior. Posting an increase, the VA share of total applications grew to 12% from 11.9% the week prior.
