U.S. Mortgage Applications Rise Slightly in November 29 Week
Summary
- Applications to purchase a house increase, while applications to refinance decrease a bit.
- Modest decrease in rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans.
- Average loan size decrease very modestly.
Mortgage applications in the week ended November 29 increased 2.8% (+18.1% y/y) after growing 6.3% in the prior week. Applications for loans to purchase a house were up 5.6% in the November 29 week after a 12.4% rise the week before, while applications to refinance a loan decreased 0.6% in the latest week following a 2.6% decline the week before. These data are from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey and the amounts quoted here are seasonally adjusted.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate loan was 6.89% in the November 29 week, down from 7.07% in the November 22 week and 7.10% the week before that. That last rate, 7.10%, was the highest since 7.17% the week of July 5. The rate on a 5-year ARM was 6.46% in the latest week, down modestly from 6.57% the week before, but still higher than 5.84% in mid-September. The rate on a 30-year jumbo loan was 6.96% in the November 29 week, down from 7.16% the week before but slightly higher than 6.90% in mid-October.
The share of applications to refinance an existing mortgage was 38.7% in the November 29 week, down very slightly from 38.8% the November 22 week and 41.0% the week before that. The largest share in recent months was 55.7% the week of September 20. The share of applications for ARMs was 6.0% in the November 29 week, a bit less that the 6.6% the week before, but slightly more than the 5.9% in the November 15 week.
The average loan size in the November 29 week was $377,600, down 0.5% from $379,500 the week before, but up 9.2% from a year ago. The average size of an application for a loan to purchase a house was $431,900 in the latest week, down from $439,200 the week before, while the average size of an application to refinance an existing loan increased to $291,500 in the November 29 week from $285,400 the prior week.
The Mortgage Bankers Association Survey covers 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100. The figures for weekly mortgage applications and interest rates are available in Haver’s SURVEYS database.
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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