Mortgage demand jumped back up, after a slight dip last week, with total demand up 5.3%, according to the weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
- Purchases jumped 8% from one week earlier but remained 31% lower than the same week one year ago.
- Refis saw a slight 0.1% increase from the previous week and is still down 57% from the same week one year ago.
Breaking It Down. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 27% of total applications and the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity decreased to 6.0% of total applications.
Rates. The average contract interest rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.30%, down 10 basis points from the prior week and is now down almost 50 bips in under one month.
- The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage average contract interest rate fell to 5.78%
Analysis. Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and Chief Economist. said a drop in rates help motivate homebuyers last week. “Prospective homebuyers this year have been quite sensitive to any drop in mortgage rates, and that played out last week with purchase applications increasing by 8 percent. Refinance application volume was a mixed bag with total volume essentially flat, conventional volume down for the week, but VA refinance volume increasing.”