Mortgage application volume dipped 0.3% on an adjusted basis during the week ended April 17, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, applications for purchases increased 2% compared with the previous week.
Applications for refinances decreased 1% – this despite the fact that the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage remained near its all-time low at 3.45% – flat compared with the previous week.
Still, applications for refinances were 225% higher compared with the same week one year ago.
“Mortgage applications were essentially unchanged last week, as a slight drop in refinance activity was offset by a two percent increase in purchase applications,” says Joel Kan, associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting for the MBA, in a statement. “California and Washington, two states hit hard by COVID-19, saw another week of rising activity – partly driving the overall increase. Despite the weekly gain, the purchase index remained close to its lowest level since 2015, and was over 30 percent lower than a year ago.”
“The pandemic-related economic stoppage has caused some buyers and sellers to delay their decisions until there are signs of a turnaround,” Kan says. “This has resulted in reduced buyer traffic, less inventory, and March existing-homes sales falling to their slowest annual pace in nearly a year.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 75.4% of total applications, down from 76.2% the previous week.
The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 2.8% of total applications.
The previous week, total applications increased 7.3%, but that was driven by a 10.3% increase in applications for refinances.