Refinance Applications Fall to Lowest Level in Over a Month in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Refinance Applications Fall to Lowest Level in Over a Month in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

The Refinance Index decreased 14 percent from the previous week to the lowest level since week ending November 2, 2012. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 8 percent compared with the previous week and was 9 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
“Despite the Federal Reserve’s announcement last week that it would purchase an additional $45 billion in Treasury securities per month as part of its continuing quantitative easing effort, rates increased in the second half of the week,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “As a result, refinance applications dropped sharply to the lowest level in over a month.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 83 percent of total applications from 84 percent the previous week. The HARP share of refinance applications fell to 25 percent. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 3 percent of total applications.