U.S. Mortgage Applications Were Mixed in Latest Week
Summary
- Mortgage applications eased in latest week.
- Home purchase applications rose while refinancing applications declined.
- Mortgage rates were mixed.
Mortgage applications eased 0.2% (-1.1% y/y) in the week ended July 5, after a decline of 2.6% (0.0% y/y) in the week ended June 28. Applications for home purchase rose 1.0% (-12.7% y/y), following a 3.3% (-12.0% y/y) decline in the week ended June 28. Applications for refinancing declined 2.2% (+28.0% y/y) in the week ended July5, following a 1.5% (+29.1% y/y) decline the prior week. These data came from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan was 7.17% in the week ended July 5, down 4bps from 7.21% in the week prior. It continues to stand below the recent high of 8.12% in mid-October of last year but remains above the low of 6.87% in the fourth week of December. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 10bps to 6.79% last week from 6.69% in the prior week. The rate on 30-year Jumbo loans eased 1bps to 7.24% last week, while the rate on the 5-year ARM fell 13bps to 6.45% from 6.58%.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan dropped to 34.9% in the week ended July 5 from 35.7% in the week ended June 28. That compared to a recent high of 39.7% in mid-December. The percentage of applications which were ARMs rose to 6.2% last week from 6.0% in the previous week. The recent low of 5.4% was reached in early January.
The average loan size dropped 1.3% (-2.7% y/y) to $369,900 in the week ended July 5, after a 0.2% (-1.0% y/y) rise $374,900 in the week ended June 28. The average loan for purchase declined 2.1% to $425,100 in the latest week from a rise of 0.9% to $434,200, while the average loan for refinancing eased 0.3% to $266,900 from a decline of 0.8% $267,800 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.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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