Mortgage applications were down slightly in the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) covering the week ending March 29.
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, was down by 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index was down by 0.1%.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index slipped by 0.1% from one week earlier, although the unadjusted index increased 1% compared with the previous week – the latter was also 13% lower than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index decreased 2% from the previous week and was 5% lower than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 30.3% of total applications from 30.8% the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 11.7% from 12.0% the week prior while the VA share of total applications increased to 12.1% from 12.0% and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.5%.
Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, stated, “Elevated mortgage rates continued to weigh down on homebuying. Purchase applications were unchanged overall, although FHA purchases did pick up slightly over the week. Refinance applications decreased to fall 5% below last year’s pace.”
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