Mortgage applications rise in weekly survey

Low borrowing costs, steady employment growth are likely driving the increase – economist

Mortgage applications rise in weekly survey
Mortgage applications increased 7.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending June 2 including an adjustment for Memorial Day, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA’s) weekly mortgage applications survey.

On an unadjusted basis, the market composite index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, went down by 15% from the week prior while the refinance index rose by 3%.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 10% from the week prior – its highest since May 2010 – while the unadjusted purchase index went down by 14%. The unadjusted purchase index was 6% higher year over year.
A combination of low borrowing costs and steady job growth is likely driving the increase, said MBA economist Joel Kan as reported by Bloomberg.

Refi activity also declined to 42.1% of total mortgage applications from 43.2% the previous week; the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of total mortgage activity dropped to 7.4% of total applications.

FHA applications increased to 10.6% of total applications from the prior week’s 10.5%; VA applications rose to 11.1% from 10.8% the previous week and USDA applications stayed the same from the week before at 0.8%.


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