Real estate purchases bounce back

Overall mortgage applications jumped 8.8 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, ending a three-week slide, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 11.3 percent to 433.3 from 389.4 the previous week, and the refinance index increased by 5.1 percent to 1,565.6 from 1,489.4 one week earlier.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 35.2 percent of total applications from 36.7 percent the previous week, which is the lowest share since June 25, 2004. The adjustable-rate-mortgage share of activity increased to 28.3 percent of total applications from 28.2 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.57 percent from 6.53 percent. Points including the origination fee increased to 1.18 from 1.1 for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.19 percent from 6.18 percent, with points including the origination fee increasing to 1.18 from 1.11 for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages increased to 6.08 percent from 5.96 percent. Points including the origination fee increased to 0.85 from 0.82 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.

Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Association is a national association representing the real estate finance industry. The survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.

All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.