Housing
Mortgage Loan Rates Mixed, New Applications Down in Holiday Week
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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a decrease of 2.4% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending July 5. Mortgage interest rates increased on two of the five types of loans the MBA tracks, while rising on one and remaining unchanged on the others. This week’s report has been adjusted to account for the Independence Day holiday.
On an unadjusted basis, the MBA’s composite index decreased by 22% in the past week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 2% compared with the week ended June 28. The unadjusted purchase index fell by 18% for the week and was 6% higher year over year.
Mortgage loan rates for a top-tier 30-year fixed-rate loan were unchanged at 3.81% last week, according to Mortgage News Daily. As of Tuesday night, top-tier borrowers were paying 3.81% for that loan. The yield on a 10-year U.S. Treasury note dropped from 2.06% to 1.98% as of last night’s close. A year ago, the 10-year note yielded 2.86%.
Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting, said:
Mortgage applications were down slightly, even after adjusting for the July 4th holiday, as we saw opposing moves in purchase and refinance applications over the week. … Borrowers have been less sensitive to low rates as many borrowers have either recently refinanced or are likely waiting for rates to fall even further.
The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 7% week over week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing slipped from 51.0% to 48.7%.
Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 5.3% of all applications, up 0.1 percentage points compared with the prior week.
According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped from 4.07% to 4.04%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.00% to 4.03%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage remained unchanged at 3.42%.
The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan increased from 3.46% to 3.56%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan remained unchanged at 3.97%.
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