After falling 3.2% the previous week, mortgage application volume dipped 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended November 16, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey.
Applications for refinances fell 5% to reach the lowest level since December 2000 while applications for purchases increased 3%.
It was the fourth consecutive week that application volume fell on a week-over-week basis.
What’s more, volume has now fallen for six of the past seven weeks.
On an unadjusted basis, total volume fell 3% compared with the previous week. Applications for purchases decreased 1% on an unadjusted basis and were 5% lower compared with the same week one year earlier.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 38.5% of total applications, down from 39.4% the previous week.
The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.3% of total applications.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.16%, down slightly from 5.17% the previous week.
The average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.53%, down from 4.57%.
The average rate for a 5/1 ARM was 4.24%, down from 4.45%.
“Treasury rates declined last week, as equity markets continued to see large swings amidst investor concerns over global economic growth,” says Joel Kan, Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting for the MBA, in a statement. “As a result, mortgage rates inched back across most loan types, including the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, 5/1 ARM, and 30-year jumbo mortgage rate.
“The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage also declined, stopping a run of six straight weekly increases,” Kan adds. “Mortgage applications saw mixed results last week. The Purchase Index increased to its highest level in five weeks, but despite the pause in rates, refinance activity dropped again and remained at its lowest level since 2000.”