U.S. mortgage applications rise on refinance surge
U.S. mortgage applications last week rallied due to a surge in refinance applications, said the latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released Wednesday by the U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The MBA said that the Market Composite Index of U.S. mortgage applications, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 4.1 percent in the week ending Dec. 9, on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week.
The Refinance Index rose 9.3 percent from the previous week, while the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 8.2 percent.
However, the four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index inched up 0.65 percent from the previous week. The four week moving average edged up 1.55 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average ticked up 0.69 percent for the Refinance Index, according to the survey.
The refinance share of total applications increased to 79.7 percent, the highest share since this year, from 76.0 percent the previous week, said the survey.
In addition, the association said that the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages last week decreased to 3.94 percent, the lowest rate this year, from 3.98 percent, while the average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 3.44 percent, also the lowest rate this year, from 3.53 percent.
The U.S. government in October announced a series of changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgage loans, which is considered to stimulate mortgage refinance activities.
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.
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