New mortgage applications and refinance applications declined last week, according to the latest survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), continuing a downward trend despite lower average rates.
The MBA market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 18.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier and fell 7.4 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.
Refinance activity also declined, by 30 percent from the previous week, to its lowest level since November 2008. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 46.4 percent of total applications from 54 percent the previous week.
Rates declined last week for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to 5.34 percent from 5.44 percent, with points increasing to 1.12 from 0.99 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans, MBA said.
Meanwhile, adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) increased to 4.3 percent of all mortgage applications from 4.1 percent the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.52 percent from 6.54 percent, with points increasing to 0.13 from 0.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
Last week’s national average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was at 5.42 percent with an average 0.7 point, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.