Mortgage Application Activity Slumps Again

Mortgage application activity concluded last month in decline, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data for the week ending June 28.

The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, was down by 2.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 8% compared with the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index was down by 3% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index increased 7% – the latter was also 12% lower than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index decreased 2% from the previous week and was 29% higher than the same week one year ago, while the refinance share of mortgage activity inched up to 35.7% of total applications from 35.1% the previous week.

Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications remained unchanged at 13.1% while the VA share of total applications decreased to 12.9% from 13.8% and the USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.3% from 0.4%.

Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, observed, “Purchase applications decreased the final full week of June, even as both new and existing inventories have increased over the past few months. Refinance activity also remains subdued, although there was a slight increase in applications for conventional refinance loans.”