Mortgage Application Activity Up 11.2%

Mortgage applications were on the rise again, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) for the week ending March 7.

The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 11.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the index was up by 12%.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 7% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index was up by 8% – the latter was also 4% higher than the same week one year ago. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 7.2% of total applications.

The Refinance Index increased 16% from the previous week and was 90% higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 45.6% of total applications from 43.8% the previous week.

Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 16.1% from 16.7% the week prior while the VA share of total applications increased to 15.9% from 14.6% and the USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4% from 0.5%.

Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, credited declining mortgage rates for driving up application activity by 31% year-over-year.

“As we enter the spring homebuying season, the purchase index was more than 4% higher than a year ago, and activity was up across all loan categories,” Kan said. Government purchase applications experienced an 11% increase – helped by the FHA rate dropping to 6.34%. Additionally, average loan sizes were higher, with the purchase loan amount hitting $460,800, the highest in the survey dating back to 1990.”