After decreasing sharply over the holidays, as it usually does, mortgage application volume bounced back during the week ended Jan. 6.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, application volume increased 5.8% on an adjusted basis compared with the previous week, with applications for refinances increasing 4.0% and applications for purchases increasing 6.0%.
On an unadjusted basis, application volume increased 42% compared with the previous week. Applications for purchases were up 45% on an unadjusted basis but were down 18% compared with the same week one year earlier.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 51.2% of total applications – down from 52.2% the previous week.
Applications for refinances were buoyed somewhat by a slight dip in mortgage rates, which came following nearly two months of steady increases. The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM), as of the week ended Jan. 6, was 4.32%, down from 4.39% the previous week.
The average rate for a 30-year jumbo FRM was 4.27%, down from 4.37%.
The average rate for a 30-year FRM backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was 4.08%, down from 4.22%.
The average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.56%, down from 3.64%.
The average rate for a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was 3.32%, up from 3.28%.
The ARM share of activity increased to 5.5% of total applications.
All rates are based on closings.
Applications for mortgages backed by the FHA represented about 11.7% of all applications – up from 11.6% the week prior. The Veterans Affairs share of total applications was 12.8%, up from 12.3%. The U.S. Department of Agriculture share was 0.9%, down from 1.1%.