Mortgage application volume declined by 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, as fewer borrowers take advantage of record low interest rates to refinance, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The refinance index was down for the fourth consecutive week, this time off by 1.6%. The market share of refi applications also fell, from 81.1% to 80.7%. MBA tracks activity through its proprietary application index.
There was good news on the purchase side, however, as that index was up 2.4% from the previous week, driven by a 4.5% increase in government purchase applications. Conventional purchase applications increased 0.8% during the period.
MBA reported that the average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased to a survey low of 4.38% from 4.44% the week prior. Points increased to 1.01 from 0.81 (including the origination fee) for loans with an 80% loan-to-value ratio.
Meanwhile, the average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs also set a survey low during the week at 3.77%, down from 3.88% one week prior, with points increasing to 1.13 from 0.86.
