Mortgage demand increased for the third straight week with total mortgage applications up 3.0%, according to the weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
- Purchases: The Purchase Index increased 2% from one week earlier but is still 36% lower than the same week one year ago.
- Refis: The Refinance Index increased 5% from the previous week but is still 68% lower than the same week one year ago.
Breaking It Down. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 28.6% of total applications and the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 8.6% of total applications.
Rates. The 30-year fixed average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate was 6.48% for the week ending March 17th, down 23 basis points from last week but is still up 237 basis points from one year ago.
- The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell 12 basis points to 6.02% for the week ending March 17th.
Analysis. Joel Kan, MBA economist, noted that while rates have fallen volatility is keeping the spreads higher than normal. “…mortgage rates have not dropped as much as Treasury rates due to increased MBS market volatility. The spread between the 30-year fixed and 10-year Treasury remained wide at around 300 basis points, compared to a more typical spread of 180 basis points.”