Mortgage application volume was up 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended April 5 due to an increase in consumers seeking refinancings, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
While overall
“There was a significant divergence between the conventional and government markets. Following the April 1
"On the other hand, applications for conventional purchase loans increased by more than 5%, bringing the conventional purchase index to its highest level since October 2009 and the highest level since the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. With these changes, the government share of all purchase loans fell to 30%, the lowest level since we began tracking this series in 2011,” he said. On an unadjusted basis, the purchase index is up 3% from the same week in 2012.
The Refinance Index, which is reported on an unadjusted basis, is up 6%. The share of refi applications reversed direction from recent weeks, increasing to 75% from 74%. The HARP share of refis increased to 30% from 28% the prior week.
Quicken Loans chief economist Bob Walters attributes the increase in refi activity to the season. “Spring is in the air and homeowners are waking up from their long hibernation and leveraging today’s historically low interest rates to refinance their mortgages to free up cash just in time for the warm spring and summer months.”
The average contract rate for the 30-year conforming FRM (MBA defines this as a loan with a balance of $417,500 or under) decreased eight basis points to 3.68%. Federal Housing Administration-insured loans had an average contract rate for the week of 3.43%, a drop of five basis points from the previous week.
Jumbo 30-year FRMs saw its average contract rate decrease six basis points to 3.79%. MBA said the rate for the 15-year FRM fell by seven basis points to 2.92%.
The share of adjustable-rate mortgages remains at 5% of the week’s loan applications; the average contract rate for the 5/1 ARM decreased by two basis points to 2.58%.
