Global| Feb 27 2019U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Increase Again as Interest Rates Fall
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Applications Index rose 5.3% w/w (0.5% y/y) during the week ended February 22 after having risen 3.6% w/w in the previous week. The increases of the past two weeks [...]
The effective interest rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage eased 5 basis points to 4.10% in the week ended February 22, the lowest level since the week ended February 2, 2018. The effective rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan edged down to 4.77% from 4.78% the previous week. The rate on a Jumbo 30-year loan slumped 13 basis points to 4.49%, while the adjustable 5-year mortgage rate edged up 1 basis point to 4.10%, its first weekly increase in five weeks.
The average mortgage loan size rose for the second consecutive week to $319,000 (+9.5% y/y). For purchases, the average loan size fell to $321,500 (+2.1% y/y). For refinancings, the average loan size jumped up to $315,400 (+22.2% y/y).
Applications for fixed-rate loans rose 5.8% w/w and were down just 0.2% from a year earlier, their strongest y/y performance since April. Applications for adjustable-rate loans edged up 0.6% w/w and were up 9.8% from a year earlier.
The survey covers over 75% 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) | 2/22/2019 | 2/15/2019 | 2/8/2019 | Y/Y | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Market Index | 5.3 | 3.6 | -6.9 | 0.5 | -10.4 | -17.8 | 15.6 |
| Purchase | 6.1 | 1.7 | -9.6 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 5.6 | 13.3 |
| Refinancing | 4.6 | 6.4 | -3.2 | -3.0 | -24.3 | -34.0 | 17.3 |
| 15-Year Mortgage Effective Interest Rate (%) | 4.10 | 4.15 | 4.16 | 4.16 (Feb.'18) | 4.35 | 3.59 | 3.22 |
Sandy Batten
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Sandy Batten has more than 30 years of experience analyzing industrial economies and financial markets and a wide range of experience across the financial services sector, government, and academia. Before joining Haver Analytics, Sandy was a Vice President and Senior Economist at Citibank; Senior Credit Market Analyst at CDC Investment Management, Managing Director at Bear Stearns, and Executive Director at JPMorgan. In 2008, Sandy was named the most accurate US forecaster by the National Association for Business Economics. He is a member of the New York Forecasters Club, NABE, and the American Economic Association. Prior to his time in the financial services sector, Sandy was a Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Treasury, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. Sandy has taught economics at St. Louis University, Denison University, and Muskingun College. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in a wide range of academic publications. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of Richmond and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The Ohio State University.
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