Housing

Mortgage Loan Rates Tick Higher, Applications Decline

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a week-over-week decrease of 1.3% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending July 15. Mortgage loan rates rose on four of five types of loans this past week.

On an unadjusted basis, the composite index increased by 24% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 2% compared with the week ended July 8. The unadjusted purchase index increased by 23% for the week and is now 16% higher year over year.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 1% week over week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing rose from 64% to 64.2%.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 5.1% of all applications, down from 5.2% in the previous week.

Mortgage News Daily noted Tuesday that rates had been increasing slightly, with lenders quoting interest rates of 3.375% to 3.50% for top-tier borrowers, up about 0.125% from early July lows. On Tuesday, however, rates ticked a bit lower or moved sideways, indicating that the correction higher may have run its course.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.60% to 3.65%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 3.61% to 3.66%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 2.88% to 2.90%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan increased from 2.78% to 2.86%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan remained unchanged at 3.53%.

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