Mortgage applications increase last week Wednesday May 11, 7:12 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Applications for U.S. home mortgages increased last week amid a robust uptick in purchasing and refinancing activity, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity increased 9.4 percent to 781.0, adding to the 0.2 gain in the previous week.
"Strong support for home sales has been provided by a recent decline in interest rates, a strong jobs market, and nice weather during the spring-buying season," Douglas Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at the MBA, said in a press release. "These factors have led to a record level of purchase applications on both weekly and four-week rolling averages."
The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications rose 9.8 percent to 2263.3, after rising 0.4 percent the prior week.
The MBA's purchase index, a gauge of loan requests for home purchases, climbed 9.4 percent 526.2, after it rose 0.1 percent the week before.
The strong demand for mortgages came despite higher interest rates on fixed- and adjustable-rate loans last week. Rates, however, have been falling significantly in previous weeks.
According to the MBA, fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 5.77 percent percent last week, excluding fees, up 3 basis points from 5.74 percent the previous week.
Despite the increase interest rates are much lower than a year ago, when the fixed 30-year mortgage rate as of May 7, 2004 was 6.32 percent, MBA data showed.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed rate mortgages also increased last week, rising 3 basis points to 5.34 percent from 5.31 percent a week earlier.
Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) rose to 4.20 percent from 4.14 percent the prior week.
Interest in floating-rate loans versus fixed ones continues to fuel demand for mortgages.
ARM applications share of activity increased to 35.3 percent of total applications from 33.4 percent the previous week, the MBA said.
According to the MBA's Duncan, consumers shift to ARMs when long-term rates rise and when the spread between long- and short-term rates widens.
"This happens at the end of every refinance boom, so it's not a surprise that ARM share has risen over the last year," Duncan said in response to a survey released last week that showed an increase in ARMs and interest-only loan originations in the second half of 2004.
"Affordability constraints" have led a number of buyers to seek lower payments with ARMs, he said.
Refinancings also increased as a percentage of all mortgage applications, rising to 39.2 percent of total applications from 39.1 percent the previous week.
The MBA's survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations, and has been conducted weekly since 1990.
Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.
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