U.S. Mortgage Applications Fell in the October 30 Week
Summary
- Applications for loans to purchase declined and applications for loan refinancing edged up in the latest week.
- Interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans fell 7bps to 7.52%.
- Average loan size edged down in the October 30 week.
Mortgage applications fell 1.2% w/w (-42.0% y/y) in the week ending October 30, after rising 3.4% w/w (-42.4% y/y) in the week ending October 23, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house fell 2.0% w/w (-19.5% y/y) in the latest week, after rising 3.8% w/w (-18.4% y/y) in the October 23 week. Applications for loan refinancing edged up 0.1% w/w (-59.9% y/y) in the October 30 week following a rise of 2.7% w/w (-61.1% y/y) in the October 23 week.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell 7bps to 7.52% in the week ending October 30 from 7.59% in the week ending October 23, its third consecutive weekly decline from 7.75% in the October 9 week. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 9bps to 7.00% in the October 30 week from 6.91% in the October 23 week. The 30-year Jumbo rate fell 12bps to 7.34% in the latest week from 7.46% in the October 23 week. The rate on a 5-year ARM dropped by 20bps to 6.66% in the October 30 week from 6.86% in the October 23 week.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan rose to 39.8% of total applications in the week of October 30 from 38.9% in the week ending October 23. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity edged up to 11.4% in the latest week from 11.3% in the October 23 week.
The average size of a mortgage fell 0.3% w/w (-9.0% y/y) to $377,400 in the week ending October 30, after rising 1.7% w/w (-8.2% y/y) to $378,600 in the week ending October 23. The average size of a purchase loan edged up 0.1% w/w to $452,600 in the October 30 week after rising 1.7% w/w to $452,100 in the October 23 week. The average size of a loan to refinance a mortgage rose 0.2% w/w to $263,500 in the week ending October 30 after increasing 1.7% w/w to $262,900 in the October 23 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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