U.S. Mortgage Applications dropped in the May 22 Week
Summary
- Both applications for loans to purchase and applications for loan refinancing declined in the latest week.
- Interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans rose 11bps to 6.73%, after rising 9bps in the prior week.
- Average loan size rose.
Mortgage applications dropped 8.5% w/w (+10.1% y/y) in the week ending May 22, after having declined 2.3% w/w (+18.9% y/y) in the week ending May 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house edged down 0.4% w/w (+4.7% y/y) in the latest week, after dropping 4.1% w/w (+8.0% y/y) in the May 15 week. Applications for loan refinancing plunged 18.1% w/w (+18.9% y/y) in the May 22 week, following a small decline of 0.1% w/w (+34.8% y/y) in the May 15 week.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan rose 11bps to 6.84% in the week ending May 22 from 6.73% in the week ending May 15. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 7bps to 6.18% in the May 22 week from 6.11% in the May 15 week. The 30-year Jumbo rate rose 11bps to 6.80% in the latest week from 6.69% in the May 15 week. The rate on a 5-year ARM rose 4bps to 6.11% in the May 22 week from 6.07% in the May 15 week.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan dropped to 37.5% of total applications in the week of May 22 from 41.9% in the May 15 week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity edged down to 9.4% in the May 22 week from 9.6% in the May 15 week.
The average size of a mortgage loan rose 3.8% w/w (8.4% y/y) to $418,400 in the week ending May 22, following a decline of 1.4% w/w (+3.5% y/y) to $403,200 in the week ending May 15. The average size of a purchase loan rose 1.4% w/w (7.3% y/y) to $473,600 in the latest week, after edging down 0.1% w/w (+4.6% y/y) to $466,900 in the May 15 week. The average size of a loan to refinance a mortgage rose 3.7% w/w (15.8% y/y) to $326,400 in the week ending May 22, after declining 3.0% w/w (+8.1% y/y) to $314,700 in the May 15 week.
The Mortgage Bankers Association 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. The figures for weekly mortgage applications and interest rates are available in Haver’s SURVEYS database.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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