MBA: Mortgage Applications Rose 6.6% Last Week
Summary
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 6.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week, MBA said. Both the Refinance and Purchase indices increased from a week earlier, but remain significantly lower as compared with last year. "Mortgage rates increased for all loan types, with the 30-year fixed rate last week jumping 25 basis points to 5.65% — the highest level since 2008,” Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said. With mortgage rates well above 5%, refinance activity continues to run more than 70% lower than last year.” He added, “Purchase applications were down more than 15% compared to last year, as ongoing inventory shortages and affordability challenges have cooled demand, coinciding with the rapid jump in mortgage rates.” The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 31.7% of total applications from 32.2% the previous week. • The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 8.1% of total applications.