Mortgage Applications Slide for Fourth Straight Week, Loan Rate Changes Mixed

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a decline of 2% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending August 10. This marks the fourth consecutive week that applications have declined. Mortgage loan rate movements were mixed last week.

Mortgage loan rates dropped appreciably last week, with the 30-year fixed rate loan ending the week at 4.64%, according to Mortgage News Daily. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds closed the week at around 2.87%, down by 12 basis points week over week.

On an unadjusted basis, the MBA’s composite index fell by 3% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index also decreased by 3% compared with the week ended August 3. The unadjusted purchase index fell by 4% for the week and was 3% lower year over year.

The MBA’s refinance index was unchanged week over week and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing rose from 36.6% to 37.6%.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.2% of all applications, down from 6.3% in the prior week.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped from 4.84% to 4.81%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked down from 4.74% to 4.73%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked higher, from 4.26% to 4.27%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan decreased from 4.07% to 4.06%, backing off an all-time high. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan fell from 4.83% to 4.77%.