U.S. Mortgage Applications Decrease for a Fourth Straight Week
Summary
• Purchase & refinancing applications both decline again.
• Fixed-rate mortgage rates ease modestly; other rates also little changed.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications decreased 1.8% (-63.1% y/y) in the week ended July 22, a fourth consecutive weekly decline. Purchase applications edged down 0.8% (-18.1% y/y) also a fourth consecutive fall and following the previous week's 7.3% drop. Applications to refinance an existing mortgage loan fell 3.7% (-82.6% y/y) after the prior week's 4.3% decrease.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan decreased to 30.7% after the previous week's recent high of 31.4%. The percentage of applications that were ARMs edged down to 9.1% from the prior week's 9.5%.
Applications for fixed-rate loans decreased 1.2% (-65.2% y/y) in the July 22 week, also a fourth consecutive weekly decline. Applications for adjustable-rate mortgages fell 6.8% (-4.9%% y/y) after falling 6.6% in the previous week.
The effective rate on a fixed-rate loan eased to 5.92% from 6.00% in the week before. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose slightly to 5.11% from 5.07%. The rate on 30-year Jumbo loan was 5.45%, up from 5.42%, while the rate on 5-year ARMs was little changed at 4.95% following 4.96% the week before.
The average loan size was up 0.4% at $367,100 in the July 22 week. It has fallen from a series high of $401,900 reached in the week ended May 6. The average size of a purchase loan was up 0.9% to $410,400. The average refinancing loan size decreased 2.6% to $269,400.
The Mortgage Bankers Survey covers 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.
These figures for weekly mortgage applications and interest rates are available in Haver's SURVEYS database.
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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