Housing

Mortgage Loan Rates Tick Up as Refinancing Increases

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting an increase of 1.6% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index following a drop of 2.2% for the previous week. Mortgage loan rates rose slightly on all types of loans last week.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased 1% from the prior week’s report. On an unadjusted basis, the composite index increased by 1% week-over-week. The unadjusted purchase index decreased by 1% for the week and remains 14% lower year-over-year.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans account for 8% of all applications, unchanged from previous weeks.

The MBA’s refinance index increased by 4% after falling by 4% in the previous week. The share of refinancings increased from 53% to 55% of all applications. That’s the highest refinance share since March.

The average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 4.33% to 4.35%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.22% to 4.26%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.47% to 3.51%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan rose from 3.31% to 3.32%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed rate loan rose from 4.03% to 4.06.

Mortgage rates wiggled around in July but finished the month about where they started, according to The Mortgage Report, at an overall average for all types of loans of 4.12%. Better economic news, slightly higher inflation, and an improving jobs picture could combine to increase demand for mortgages, which means of course that loan rates will rise.

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