Home loan applications rose for the second straight week, climbing 5.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending October 10, the MBA said today.
On an unadjusted basis, the index was up 5.4 percent compared to one week earlier, but still 17 percent off year-ago levels.
The rise in application volume was led by a 12.5 percent jump in refinance activity, while ever popular FHA lending slipped 2.1 percent during the week.
The refinance share of mortgage activity climbed to 46.4 percent of total applications from 43.4 percent as borrowers took advantage of lower interest rates earlier in the week.
“Treasury yields were extremely volatile last week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note — the benchmark for 30-year fixed mortgage rate — moved up about 40 basis points over the course of the week,” said Orawin Velz, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic Forecasting.
“Lower yields earlier in the week appeared to have spurred refinance activity, which then faded as the week went on and rates began to rise.”
The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 6.47 percent from 5.99 percent, while the 15-year rose to 6.17 percent from 5.71 percent.
Adjustable-rate mortgages were less volatile, with the one-year ARM rising just seven basis points to 6.67 percent.
The ARM-share of total applications increased to 2.6 percent from 2.3 percent the previous week.
The MBA’s weekly survey, compiled since 1990, covers roughly half of all retail residential loan applications.
(photo: gualtiero)
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