Mortgage application volume slides

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 31st, the volume of mortgage applications dropped 2.5 percent from the week prior, on a seasonally adjusted basis, falling 3.0 percent on an unadjusted basis.

The Refinance Index decreased 3.0 percent from the previous week to the lowest level since May 2012. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.8 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week and was 1 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 79 percent from the previous week, remaining near the 80 percent mark where it has hovered for over a year. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.0 percent of total applications.

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Current mortgage rates

According to the MBA:

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) decreased to 3.78 percent from 3.80 percent, with points decreasing to 0.37 from  0.42 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) decreased to 4.05 percent from 4.06 percent, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.54 percent from 3.60 percent, with points decreasing to 0.44 from 0.48 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.10 percent from 3.12 percent, with points decreasing to 0.37 from 0.44 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 2.64 percent from 2.68 percent, with points decreasing to 0.35 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

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