Global| Oct 29 2014U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Pull Back
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 6.6% last week (-20.2% y/y) following three week's of improvement. Applications to refinance an existing loan fell 7.4% (-22.4% y/y) [...]
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 6.6% last week (-20.2% y/y) following three week's of improvement. Applications to refinance an existing loan fell 7.4% (-22.4% y/y) following the prior week's surge. Home purchase applications declined 5.0% (-15.9% y/y), the same as during the week prior.
The effective interest rate on a 15-year mortgage held steady w/w at 3.34%, remaining at the lowest level since May 2013. The effective rate on a 30-year fixed rate loan ticked up to 4.19% but remained down from 4.49% five weeks ago. The rate on a Jumbo 30-year loan rose to 4.17%. For adjustable 5-year mortgages, the effective interest rate was roughly stable at 3.10%. It was down versus last year's 3.74% peak and at the lowest level since June 2013.
The average mortgage loan size pulled back w/w to $270,700. For home purchases, it fell slightly to $283,600; for refinancings, it declined to $263,600.
Applications for fixed interest rate loans declined 21.7% y/y while adjustable rate loan applications rose 1.2% 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.
Do Unemployment Benefits Expirations Help Explain the Surge in Job Openings? from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is available here.
(10/13)
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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