Mortgage loan application volume declined by 5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Jan. 20, as interest rates on some fixed-rate loans rebounded from their all-time lows, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The results for the current survey include an adjustment to account for the Martin Luther King Day holiday.
The Refinance Index declined by 5.2% from the previous week, and the market share of refi applications fell to 81.3% from 82.2%. Purchase application volume declined by 5.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from last week. It was down 6.5% on an unadjusted basis from the same week in 2011.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased by five basis points to 4.11%; the average contract interest rate for 30-year Federal Housing Administration-insured loans increased six basis points to 3.97%; and the average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs increased seven basis points to 3.33%.
For the second week in a row, the rates for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances bucked the trend, with the average contract rate declining by one basis point to 4.39%.
