The volume of home loan applications in the US fell 1.2 percent last week, compared with the previous week. The decline was largely due to the drop in mortgage applications to purchase a home, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
Applications for home loans plunged to a seasonally adjusted 7 percent for the week that ended February 5, compared with the week before, but refinance applications rose to an unadjusted 1.4 percent. The survey by MBA covers about a half of all the US retail residential mortgage applications.
The four-week average for all mortgages increased to 3.8 percent.
Refinance applications last week rose to 69.7 percent from 69.2 percent in the previous week. The share of adjustable-rate mortgage applications for this week remains the same as last week’s 4.5 percent.
Additionally, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was down 4.94 percent, compared with 5.01 percent the week before. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.33 percent, unchanged from the previous week. The 1-year ARM declined to 6.68 percent from 6.70 percent last week.
To acquire the rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage requires 1.06 points average payments, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage needs an average of 0.95 points and 0.35 points are needed for 1-year ARM. A point is 1 percent of the mortgage amount, which is charged as prepaid interest.