Mortgage application volume decreased 3.3% on an adjusted basis during the week ended March 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Applications for refinances decreased 6%, while applications for purchases increased 0.3% relative to the previous week.
On an unadjusted basis, application volume decreased 3% compared with the previous week. Applications for purchases were up 1%, on an unadjusted basis, and were 33% higher compared with the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity was about 55% of total applications, down from 56.7% the previous week.
A factor in the decrease in refinance applications was that mortgage interest rates crept back up slightly. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.94%, up from 3.89%.
The average rate for a jumbo, fixed-rate, 30-year FRM was 3.86%, up from 3.81%.
The average rate for a 30-year FRM backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was 3.77%, up from 3.71%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.22%, up from 3.14%.
The average rate for a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.23%, up from 3.20%.
The ARM share of activity decreased to 4.9% of total applications.
Looking at volume by loan type, applications for mortgages backed by the FHA accounted for 11.7% of all applications, down from 12.0% the week prior. The Veterans Affairs share of total applications was 12.3%, down from 12.6%. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.8%.