Mortgage Applications in U.S. Decrease 3 Percent in March

---

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 30, 2018, U.S. mortgage applications decreased 3.3 percent from one week earlier.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 3.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 5 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 2 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 5 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to its lowest level since September 2008, 38.5 percent of total applications, from 39.4 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 6.5 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 10.1 percent from 9.9 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications remained unchanged at 10.3 percent. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.8 percent.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) remained unchanged at 4.69 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.43 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $453,100) decreased to 4.56 percent from 4.60 percent, with points decreasing to 0.27 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 4.74 percent from 4.75 percent, with points decreasing to 0.54 from 0.56 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained unchanged at 4.09 percent, with points decreasing to 0.42 from 0.46 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.87 percent from 3.92 percent, with points decreasing to 0.28 from 0.46 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.