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Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Fell Back in February, but Still in Recent Range
The NAR U.S. Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index decreased 7.6% (-1.4% y/y) in February to 173.1...
European New Car Registrations Remarkably Strong Yet Forgettable
Car registrations are not going to be the only statistic that bears these dual and seemingly dueling characteristics...
U.S. Retail Sales Soar in March
Total retail sales including food service and drinking establishments increased 9.8% (27.7% y/y) during March...
U.S. Industrial Production Rebounded in March
Industrial production rebounded in March, rising 1.4% m/m (+1.0% y/y)...
U.S. Home Builder Index Edges Higher in April
The NAHB-Wells Fargo Composite Housing Market Index rose 1.2% to 83 during April...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller February 11, 2015
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 9.0% last week (+26.3% y/y) following a 1.3% improvement during the prior week. Refinance applications fell 10.3% (+41.8% y/y). Home purchase applications were off 6.5% (+2.1% y/y) to the lowest level in five weeks.
The effective interest rate on a 15-year mortgage held steady at 3.22% for the third straight week. It was down from 3.60% averaged in September. The effective rate on a 30-year fixed rate loan was 3.93% versus 4.42% in September. The rate on a Jumbo 30-year loan declined to 3.96% compared to a 4.30% September average. For adjustable 5-year mortgages, the effective interest rate rose w/w to 3.23%, but remained down from 3.36% in September.
The average mortgage loan size was $270,700 (16.4% y/y). For home purchases, it remained steady at $285,700 (5.7% y/y) and for refinancings it was $264,000 (26.4% y/y).
Applications for fixed interest rate loans were up 28.8% y/y. Adjustable rate loan applications declined 4.6% y/y.
The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100. The figures for weekly mortgage applications and interest rates are available in Haver's SURVEYW database.
MBA Mortgage Applications (SA, 3/16/90=100) | 02/06/15 | 01/30/15 | 01/23/15 | Y/Y % | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Market Index | 501.8 | 551.2 | 544.2 | 26.3 | 361.5 | 616.6 | 813.8 |
Purchase | 175.1 | 187.2 | 191.7 | 2.1 | 172.1 | 197.5 | 187.8 |
Refinancing | 2,395.8 | 2,669.9 | 2,605.4 | 41.8 | 1,449.8 | 3,070.0 | 4,505.0 |
15-Year Mortgage Effective Interest Rate (%) | 3.22 | 3.22 | 3.22 | 3.60 (2/14) |
3.54 | 3.42 | 3.25 |