Mortgage application volume grew 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with the week prior, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
On an unadjusted basis, the MBA's Market Composite Index grew 3% for the week ending Aug. 14. Seasonally adjusted, the purchase index decreased 1% to its lowest level since March, according to the MBA. Unadjusted, the index fell 3% compared to the previous week and 19% from the same week the year before.
The volume of refinance applications grew 7% from the previous week, its highest level since May. The refinance share of mortgage activity grew 2.4 percentage points from the prior week to 55.5% of all applications. Adjustable-rate mortgage activity increased to 6.9% of total applications.
"Concerns about the Chinese economy pushed interest rates down last week, resulting in a two-basis-point decline in 30-year fixed interest rate, bringing the rate down to its lowest since May 2015," said Lynn Fisher, the MBA's vice president of research and economics, in a release. "The pick-up in refinance activity was led by larger loan sizes on average, as continued investor interest drove jumbo interest rates down even further, by five basis points."
The Federal Housing Administration's share of applications decreased 40 basis points to 12.9% from the week before while the Department of Veterans Affairs' share shrank 20 basis points to 11.1%. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's share of applications grew 10 basis points to 0.8%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate jumbo mortgages (over $417,000) shrank five basis points to 4.03%, its lowest level since May. Interest rates for conforming loans also shrank two basis points to 4.11%.
Interest rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages also decreased by two basis points to 3.37%, while the average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages decreased 13 basis points to 2.98%.
