The spring home buying season is chugging ahead despite stalling mortgage rates and economic uncertainty.
The level of purchase applications last week reached their highest level since January, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. The trade group reported
"Overall purchase activity has shown year-over-year growth for more than two months as the inventory of existing homes for sale continues to increase, a positive development for the housing market despite the uncertain near-term outlook," said Joel Kan, MBA's vice president and deputy chief economist, in a press release Wednesday.
Buyers drove a 3% increase in conventional purchases, Kan said, and a 2% decrease in government purchase applications.
The MBA's unadjusted Purchase Index was up 2% last week and 9% greater than a year ago. The overall Market Composite Index however fell 1.6%, driven by a 6% dip in refinance application activity.
Rates for other loan products tracked by the MBA barely budged, failing to sway homeowners waiting for more attractive terms. The refi share of applications last week fell to 38.6%, from 40.4% the week prior.
Kan cited volatile Treasury yields in the face of
The 30-year jumbo rate fell 1 basis point to 6.76%, while the average 15-year FRM was 6.04% last week, a decline of 4 basis points. Rates for Federal Housing Administration mortgages, which accounted for 15.8% of applications last week, also dropped 3 basis points to 6.37%.
More borrowers are seeking adjustable-rate mortgages, with their share of application activity rising to 6.5% last week. Those consumers however also ran into higher rates, with the average 5/1 ARM at 6.04%, up from 5.89% last week.
