Housing

Mortgage Loan Rates Rise Slightly as Applications Decline

Paul Ausick

Published: December 14, 2016 7:35 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:47 pm

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a week-over-week decrease of 4% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending December 9. Mortgage loan rates rose on three of five types of loans over the past week.

On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 5% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 4% compared with the week ended December 2. The unadjusted purchase index decreased 7% for the week and is now 2% higher year over year.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 4% week over week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing rose from 56.2% to 57.2%.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.2% of all applications, up from 6% the previous week.

Compared with the prior week, the most prevalent rate offer on a 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgage rose by 0.125% to 4.25%, although 4.125% was the second most prevalent rate, according to Mortgage News Daily, which also noted:

In the bigger picture, rates remain very close to the highest levels in more than 2 years. November proved to be one of the worst months in mortgage rate history, based on the abruptness of the move higher. The damage was primarily due to investors rapidly reassessing future growth and inflation potential following the election. By comparison, Fed policy has been less consequential.  … While there is widespread agreement that the Fed will hike its policy rate …, investors are nonetheless curious to see how the Fed’s economic projections evolve. This will help market participants get an idea of how the Fed is leaning with respect to future hikes, and it’s the expected pace of those future hikes that do most to influence mortgage rates in the present.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 4.27% to 4.28%, the highest rate since October 2014. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.22% to 4.29%, its highest level since September 2014. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 3.53% to 3.52%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan decreased from 3.39% to 3.28%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan rose from 4.00% to 4.02%.