Although rates have been trending downward this week, new mortgage applications fell by almost 3% for the week ending March 23, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
But MBA found a silver lining in the results: purchase money loans accounted for just over 28% of all new business applications, the highest reading since July of last year.
“The decline in the Refinance Index this week was driven largely by a 12 percent drop in government refinance activity, while conventional refinance applications fell by less, decreasing 3.4 percent from the previous week,” the trade group reported. (The comparison is to the week prior.)
Consumers continued to favor fixed-rate loans with ARMs accounting for just 5.4% of new applications, compared to 5.6% the week before.
MBA tracks the application market through a proprietary index.
The average contract interest rate for a 30-year FRM (conforming loan balances of $417,500 or less) increased to 4.23% for the week ending March 23, the highest rate since November 2011.
