After adjusting to account for the President’s Day holiday, mortgage application volume decreased 4.3% during the week ended Feb. 19, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
The drop comes after application volume increased for two consecutive weeks.
Applications for refinances decreased 8% while applications for purchases increased 2%.
On an unadjusted basis, application volume decreased 12% compared with the previous week.
Also on an unadjusted basis, applications for purchases decreased 4% compared with the previous week but were up 27% compared with the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 61.0% of total applications from 64.3% the previous week.
The decrease in refinance volume is likely due to the fact that mortgage interest rates began to creep back up again. The average rate – based on closings – for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.85%, up from 3.83% the previous week.
The average rate for a 30-year jumbo FRM was 3.80%, up from 3.74%.
The average rate for 30-year FRM backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was 3.72%, up from 3.67%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.12%, up from 3.11%.
The average rate for a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.07%, up from 2.92%.
The ARM share of activity decreased to 5.8% of total applications.
Looking at volume by loan type, applications for mortgages backed by the FHA were about 12.0% of all applications – up from 11.5% the week prior. The Veterans Affairs share of total applications was 13.0%, up from 11.7% the week prior. The U.S. Department of Agriculture share of applications was 0.7%, up from 0.6% the week prior.