Mortgage Applications Uptick in December

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 1, 2017, U.S. mortgage applications increased 4.7 percent from one week earlier. The prior week's results included an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 4.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 47 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 9 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 38 percent compared with the previous week and was 8 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to its highest level since September 2017, 51.6 percent of total applications, from 48.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to its lowest level since January 2017, 5.7 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 11.1 percent from 10.8 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.7 percent from 11.0 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from the week prior at 0.8 percent.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) decreased to 4.19 percent from 4.20 percent, with points increasing to 0.40 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $424,100) increased to 4.16 percent from 4.14 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 4.11 percent from 4.07 percent, with points increasing to 0.40 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.59 percent from 3.57 percent, with points increasing to 0.48 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.48 percent from 3.42 percent, with points decreasing to 0.46 from 0.58 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.