Mortgage applications leapt 9% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Jan. 15 compared to
The MBA's Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, increased 12% on an unadjusted basis from last week.
Refinance application volume was up 19% from the previous week. Purchase apps were down 2% on a seasonally adjusted basis and up 4% on an unadjusted basis from the previous week. On an unadjusted basis, purchase apps were 17% higher than the same week a year ago.
Refinancings as a share of all mortgage activity increased three basis points to 59.1% of total applications.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) fell six basis points to 4.06%. The 30-year jumbo ($417,000 or greater) fixed-rate mortgage fell 12 basis points to 4.02%. These were the lowest levels since October.
However, applications for mortgages for new home purchases fell 5% for the month of December when
New-home sales fell 8% on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the MBA's Builder Application Survey, which tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of homebuilders nationwide.
Conventional loans made up 68% of all loan applications; Federal Housing Administration-insured loans, 18.5%; U.S. Department of Agriculture loans, 1%; and Veterans Affairs-guaranteed loans 12.6%.
The average size of a mortgage for a new home rose 3.8% to $333,182.
