Including an adjustment for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, mortgage applications increased 4.0% from one week earlier during the week ended Jan. 20, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
On an unadjusted basis, total volume decreased 5% compared with the previous week.
Applications for refinances increased 0.2% from the previous week, while purchase applications increased 6% from one week earlier to their highest level since June 2016.
On an unadjusted basis, applications for purchases increased 2% compared with the previous week and increased 0.1% from the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 50.0% of total applications – the lowest level since July 2015 – from 53.0% the previous week.
The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($424,000 or less) was 4.35%, up from 4.27%.
The average rate for a 30-year jumbo FRM was 4.28%, up from 4.22%.
The average rate for a 30-year FRM backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was 4.19%, up from 4.10%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.57%, up from 3.51%.
The average rate for a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.41%, down from 3.44%.
The ARM share of activity remained unchanged at 5.7% of total applications.
The average loan size for purchase applications increased to $309,200, its highest level since Dec. 16, 2016.
Looking at the government loans, applications for mortgages backed by the FHA represented about 13.6% of all applications – up from 13.1% the previous week. The Veterans Affairs share of total applications was 12.2%, up slightly from 12.1%. The U.S. Department of Agriculture share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.9% the week prior.