Mortgage application activity percolated during the week ending July 17, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 1.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index was up by 2%.
Both the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Purchase Index rose by 6% week-over-week, with the latter recording a 0.2% rise above the reading from the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index dipped by 2% but was also 7% higher than the same week one year ago; the refinance share of mortgage activity dropped to 41.2% of total applications from the 43.2% share of the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 17.0% from 17.7% the week prior while the VA share of total applications dipped to 13.2% from 13.6% and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.5%.
Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, observed, “Growing home inventory in many markets is supporting more purchase activity. Incoming data showed that inflation dropped in June, but with oil prices spiking again, that improvement seems unlikely to continue in July data, and mortgage rates are likely to remain higher as a result.”
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