Mortgage application activity slowed for the fourth consecutive week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) measuring the week ending Oct. 17.
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, dipped by 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index was down by 0.2% compared with the previous week.
Both the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Purchase Index were down by 5% from one week earlier – the latter was also 20% higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index increased by 4% and was 81% higher than the same week one year ago while the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 55.9% of total applications from 53.6% in the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications increased to 21.8% from 20.5% the week prior while the VA share of total applications decreased to 13.5% from 14.9% and the USDA share of total applications dipped to 0.3% from 0.4%.
“The lowest mortgage rates in a month spurred an increase in refinance activity, including another pickup in ARM applications,” observed Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, adding, “ARM applications increased 16 percent over the week, which pushed the ARM share to 11%, with the ARM rate more than 80 basis points lower than the 30-year fixed rate.”
