Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending September 8th, total mortgage activity decreased 0.8% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose six basis points to 7.27%. The FRM rate has remained above 7% since the start of August.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell by 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis from one week earlier. Purchasing activity increased 1.3%, while refinancing activity decreased 5.4% week-over-week.
Interest rates remained above seven percent for the sixth consecutive week. The combination of higher rates and low existing for-sale inventory have hampered potential buyers as the purchase index remained historically low. The seasonally adjusted purchase index was 27.5% lower than one year ago while the seasonally adjusted refinancing index was 31.1% lower than one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity fell from 30.0% to 29.1% over the week, while the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity rose to 7.5% from 6.7%. The average loan size for purchases was $410,900 at the start of September, down from $413,600 over the month of August. The average loan size for refinancing decreased from $255,900 over the month of August to $255,400. The average loan size for an ARM was up at start of September to $833,000 while the average loan size for a FRM fell to $329,200.
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