The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a decrease of 0.6% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index, following a rise of 0.3% for the previous week. Mortgage loan rates dropped across the board last week. Last week’s numbers have not been adjusted to account for the Columbus Day holiday.
The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 1% from last week’s report. On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 1% week-over-week. The unadjusted purchase index increased by 1% for the week and is down 2% year-over-year. This marks the fourth week in a row that the year-over-year unadjusted purchase index is lower than it was a year ago.
The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 1%, after increasing by 3% in the previous week. The share of refinancings dropped by a point to 65% of all applications. Adjustable rate mortgage loans account for 7% of all applications, up from 6% in the prior week.
The average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 4.46% to 4.39%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 4.51% to 4.43%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 3.53% to 3.51%. All three loan types have fallen to their lowest levels since June.
The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan remained unchanged at 3.25%.
Now that the government shutdown is over and loan applications are moving again, we should see a rise in the unadjusted purchase index. That depends, of course, on how Americans feel about the state of the economy and the confidence in its future direction.
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.