Spring home buying season is upon us, as evidenced by the surge in mortgage applications, which increased 4.8% from last week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 23, 2018.
On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 5% from last week.
The Refinance Index jumped 7% from the previous week. The Purchase Index also increased, rising 3% from last week.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased from last week’s 38.5% to 39.4% of total applications.
The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity remained unchanged from last week at 7% of total applications.
The Federal Housing Administration share of applications decreased from 10.3% last week to 9.9% this week, and the Veterans Affairs' share of applications decreased from 10.7% to 10.3%.
The Department of Agriculture share of total applications remained unchanged from last week at 0.8% this week.
The MBA reported mortgage interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) increased from last week’s 4.68% to 4.69% this week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $453,100) increased to 4.6% from 4.55% last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased from last week’s 4.69% to 4.75%.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.09% from 4.12%.
Lastly, the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.92%, up from 3.83%.
