Mortgage application volume decreased 2.3% on an adjusted basis during the week ended April 10, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
On an unadjusted basis, volume decreased 2% compared with the previous week.
Applications for refinances decreased 2% while applications for purchases decreased 3%.
On an unadjusted basis, applications for purchases decreased 2% compared with the previous week but were up 7% compared to the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 58% of total applications, up from 57% the previous week.
The drop in volume is somewhat unusual when one considers that we are heading deeper into the spring home buying season. The rate of application volume has been falling for the past three weeks, according to the MBA's data. After increasing a whopping 9.6% during the week ended March 20, volume increased only 4.6% during the week ended March 27 and only 0.4% during the week ended April 3.
The dip in application volume this past week came as mortgage rates began to inch back up, following four weeks of steady declines. Still, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) remained below 4.0%
During the week ended April 10, the average rate for a 30-year FRM with conforming loan balance ($417,000 or less) was 3.87%, up slightly from 3.86% the previous week.
The average rate for a 30-year FRM with jumbo loan balance (greater than $417,000) was 3.84%, up from 3.81% the week prior.
The average rate for a 30-year FRM backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was 3.67%, down from 3.69% the previous week.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.16%, up slightly from 3.15% the week prior.
The average rate for a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 2.82%, up from 2.76%.
The ARM share of mortgage activity decreased to 5.4% of total applications.
Looking at volume by loan type, applications for mortgages backed by the FHA represented 13.5% of all applications, up from 13.2% the previous week. Applications for Veterans Affairs mortgages represented 11.1% of all loans, up from 10.7% the previous week. Applications for mortgages through the U.S. Department of Agriculture were unchanged at 0.8%.
All rates are based on closings. The survey covers over 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.