Mortgage applications swung back up and increased 3% from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Aug. 4.
Broken up, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1% from one week earlier, as the unadjusted Purchase Index increased a meager 0.3% from the previous week. The Purchase Index is also 7% higher than the same week one year ago.
Moving higher after trending down for much of the year, the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 46.7% of total applications from 45.5% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.8% of total applications.
The Federal Housing Administration’s share of total applications decreased to 10.2% from 10.3% the week prior. The Veterans Affairs’ share of total applications increased to 10.7% from 10.1% the week prior. The Department of Agriculture’s share of total applications remained frozen at 0.8%.
Moving to mortgage product types, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) dropped to 4.14% from 4.17%.
Similarly, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $424,100) decreased to 4.07% from 4.11%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA fell to 4.02% from 4.07%.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 3.41% from 3.45%, while the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.31% from 3.30%.
