Mortgage Applications Rise in the Week Ending May 10th—Second Consecutive Increase

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Friday, May 10th, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—increased 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.3% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 5.0% from one week ago and was 7.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.0% compared with one week ago. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2.0% compared with the previous week but was 14.0% lower than the same week one year ago.

Commenting on the results of this week’s survey, MBA Vice President and Deputy Economist Joel Kan said,

“Treasury yields continued to move lower last week, and mortgage rates declined for the second week in a row, with the 30-year fixed rate down 10 basis points to 7.08%, the lowest level since early April. The decline in rates led to a small boost to refinance applications, including another strong week for VA refinances. However, the overall level of refinance activity remains low. Purchase applications decreased, driven largely by a 9% drop in FHA purchase applications. Conventional home purchase applications were down around 1%.

While the downward move in rates benefits prospective homebuyers, mortgage rates are still much higher than they were a year ago, while for-sale inventory remains tight.”