Home loan applications in the US dipped 2.5 percent during the week ended 31 August compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
MBA’s benchmark for mortgage applications, the Market Composite Index, declined 2.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis while dropping three percent on an unadjusted basis.
At the same time, the Refinance Index fell three percent from the previous week to its lowest level since May 2012. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index also fell 0.8 percent while the unadjusted Purchase Index declined by three percent. Nonetheless, the unadjusted Purchase Index was one percent higher over the same period last year.
Moreover, the refinance share of mortgage activity held steady at 79 percent, while the proportion of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) grew to five percent of overall applications.
The average contract interest rate of 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with loan balances of US$417,500 (S$520,998) or less also slipped from 3.80 to 3.78 percent; while interest rates for mortgages with balances of more than US$417,500 (S$520,998) declined from 4.06 to 4.05 percent.
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