U.S. Mortgage Applications Rose Again in the March 6 Week
Summary
- Both applications for loans to purchase and for loan refinancing rose.
- Effective interest rate on 30-year fixed loans rose 12bps to 6.36%.
- Average loan size declined.
Mortgage applications rose 3.2% w/w (44.7% y/y) in the week ending March 6 after rising 11.0% w/w (55.9% y/y) in the week ending February 27, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house rose 7.8% w/w (10.8% y/y) in the latest week, after rising 6.1% w/w (10.0% y/y) in the prior week. Applications for loan refinancing edged up 0.5% w/w (80.7% y/y) in the week ending March 6, after a jump of 14.3% w/w (108.8% y/y) in the February 27 week.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan rose 12bps to 6.36% in the week ending March 6 from 6.24% in the week ending February 27. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 7bps to 5.71% in the latest week from 5.64% in the prior week. The 30-year Jumbo rate rose 10bps to 6.35% in the March 6 week from 6.25% in the February 27 week. The rate on a 5-year ARM was unchanged at 5.50% in the week ending March 6 from the February 27 week.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan dropped to 57.8% of total applications in the week of March 6 from 59.8% in the February 27 week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity edged up to 8.9% in the March 6 week from 8.8% in the February 27 week.
The average size of a mortgage loan declined 1.3% w/w (-0.4% y/y) to $418,100 in the week ending March 6, after rising 1.6% w/w (6.1% y/y) to $423,400 in the week ending February 27. The average size of a purchase loan declined 1.0% w/w (-3.1% y/y) to $446,400 in the latest week, after rising 1.8% w/w (0.6% y/y) to $450,900 in the week ending February 27. The average size of a loan to refinance a mortgage dropped 1.9% w/w (+7.2% y/y) to $397,400 in the week ending March 6, after rising 1.6% w/w (20.4% y/y) to $404,900 in the week ending February 27.
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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