Mortgage application activity surged during the week ending Sept. 5, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 9.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index was down by 3%.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 7% from one week earlier but the unadjusted index retreated by 6% – the latter was also 23% higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index increased 12% from the previous week and was 34% higher than the same week one year ago, while the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 48.8% of total applications from 46.9% in the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 18.5% from 19.9% the week prior while the VA share of total applications increased to 15.3% from 13.8% and the USDA share of total applications inched up to 0.6% from 0.5%.
Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, observed, “Purchase applications increased to the highest level since July and continued to run more than 20% ahead of last year’s pace … The holiday-adjusted refinance index had its strongest week in a year and the average loan size for refinances also increased significantly, since borrowers with large loans are more sensitive to bigger rate moves. Refinance applications accounted for almost 49% of all applications last week.”
