After surging in early July, mortgage application volume tumbled 11.2% during the week ended July 22 due mainly to increasing mortgage interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Applications for refinances decreased 15%, while applications for purchases decreased 3%, reaching the lowest level since February.
On an unadjusted basis, total volume decreased 11% compared with the previous week. Applications for purchases decreased 3%, on an unadjusted basis, but increased 12% compared with the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 61.1% of total applications from 64.2% the previous week.
The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.69%, up from 3.65%, according to the MBA’s data.
The average rate for a 30-year jumbo FRM was 3.67%, up from 3.66%.
The average rate for a 30-year FRM backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was 3.56%, up from 3.53%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 2.94%, up from 2.90%.
The average rate for a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 2.96%, up from 2.86%.
The ARM share of activity decreased to 4.7% of total applications.
Looking at the agency loans, applications for mortgages backed by the FHA represented about 10.1% of all applications – up from 9.9% the week prior. The Veterans Affairs share of total applications was 11.9%, up from 11.2% the week prior. The U.S. Department of Agriculture share of total applications increased to 0.6% from 0.5% the week prior.