Housing
Mortgage Loan Rates Rose Last Week, Applications Fell 6%
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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a week-over-week decrease of 6% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending October 7. Mortgage loan rates rose on four types of loans and remained unchanged on one over the past week. Last week’s rates hit a monthly high.
On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 6% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 3% compared with the week ended September 30. The unadjusted purchase index decreased 2% for the week and is now 27% higher year over year.
The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 8% week over week and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing dropped from 63.8% to 62.4%.
Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 4.1% of all applications, down from 4.1% the previous week.
The nonfarm payroll report released last Friday was slightly below expectations and should have resulted in a slight dip in mortgage rates. Instead, rates moved slightly higher. Rates have increased for nine straight days, according to Mortgage News Daily, and the most prevalent rate available for top-tier borrowers is settling on 3.65% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.
According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.62% to 3.68%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 3.60% to 3.67%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 2.93% to 2.97%.
The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan remained unchanged at 2.92%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan increased from 3.50% to 3.54%.
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