For the second consecutive week, a decline in applications for government-insured mortgage loans helped to drag down total loan application volume by 6.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended June 29, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This took place even as rates on fixed-rate mortgages fell to new or near-record lows.
The Refinance Index was down about 8% this week, largely driven by a significant drop in refinance applications for government loans, a result of continuing fall-out from the Federal Housing Administration's raising the cost of these loans two weeks ago. The share of apps for the Home Affordable Refinance Program has been 24% over the past two weeks, up slightly from 20% three weeks ago.
The Purchase Index increased less than 1% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unadjusted Purchase Index was almost 7% lower than the same week one year ago.
The refi share of apps fell to 78% from over 79% in last week's survey.
New interest rate low points were established for the 30-year conforming and FHA loans as well as the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) fell by two basis points from the previous week to 3.86%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year FHA-insured loans declined by two basis points to 3.69%. The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs declined four basis points to 3.2%.
The rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances fell by four basis points to 4.08%, its second lowest point ever.
