Applications for mortgages were off 15.8 percent last week as demand for both refinancings and purchase loans fell, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
Applications for refinancings fell 23.3 percent from the previous week, while applications for purchase loans were down 3.5 percent, according to the MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey for the week ending June 12.
Borrowers seeking to refinance accounted for 54.1 percent of applications, down from 59.4 percent the previous week.
Demand for adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans, while still weak, continues to rebound as rates on fixed-rate loans remain above their recent lows. Requests for ARM loans accounted for 4.3 percent of all applications, up from 3.4 percent the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.5 percent last week from 5.57 percent the week before, with points decreasing to 0.89 from 1.09 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.99 percent from 5.1 percent, with points decreasing to 0.99 from 1.04 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.54 percent from 6.75 percent, with points decreasing to 0.09 from 0.1 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
At this time last year, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.57 percent with 1.1 points, and applications for refinancings made up 37.4 percent of requests for mortgage loans.
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