Mortgage applications dropped 4.9% from last week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 15, 2017.
The Refinance Index decreased 3% from last week, continuing last week’s 3% drop. The Purchase Index continued to decrease, falling 9% from last week.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 53.9% of total applications, up from 52.4% the week before and its highest level since December 2016.
The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity remained unchanged at 5.6% of total applications.
The Federal Housing Administration’s share of applications decreased from 11.8% last week to 11.3% this week, but the Veterans Affair’s share of applications increased to 10.9%, up from 10.3% last week.
The Department of Agriculture’s share of total applications remained unchanged from last week at 0.7%.
The MBA reported mortgage interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) decreased from last week’s 4.2% to 4.16%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $424,100) increased to 4.14% from 4.11% last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 4.11%, down from last week’s 4.13%.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.6% from 3.61%.
Lastly, the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.49% from 3.42%.
The MBA announced that, due to the Christmas holiday, it will not release apps next week, and that it will release the next two weeks of data on January 3, 2018.
