U.S. MBA's Mortgage Applications Index Rose 10.1% Last Week
By Monee Fields-White
U.S. MBA's Mortgage Applications Index Rose 10.1% Last Week
Washington, Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Applications for U.S.
mortgages rose last week to the highest level in more than a
month even as mortgage rates stayed above 7.5 percent, the
Mortgage Bankers Association of America said.
The MBA's mortgage applications index increased 10.1 percent
to 307.3 in the week ended Oct. 1 from 279 in the previous week.
That's the highest reading since the last week of August, when
the seasonally adjusted index was at 314.
''The underlying trend in the housing sector remains
solid,'' even while mortgage rates stayed above 7.5 percent for
four straight months, said analysts at Standard & Poor's MMS in
Belmont, California, before the report.
Last week, the MBA's average contract rate on a 30-year,
fixed-rate mortgage with a 20 percent down payment rose 11 basis
points to 7.86 percent.
The average rate on a one-year adjustable mortgage, pegged
to the one-year constant-maturity Treasury index, rose 7 basis
points last week to 6.84 percent, the MBA said. Adjustable
mortgages accounted for 25.6 percent of the market last week, the
MBA report showed.
Higher mortgage rates haven't deterred people from
buying homes. The MBA's purchase index, which gauges demand for
houses, rose 11 percent to 288.8 from the previous week's 260.2.
That's the highest level since the last week of August. Also,
the group's refinancing index rose 6.7 percent to 414.6 last
week from 388.4 the previous week.
U.S. new home sales rose in August to the second-
highest level on record, government figures showed last week.
New single-family home sales increased 2.9 percent in August
to 983,000 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, the
Commerce Department said. Sales in July rose 0.8 percent to a
rate of 955,000. August's pace was exceeded only by November's
record sales pace of 985,000.
That has put new home sales on a path to total 945,000 this
year, a 6.6 percent increase over last year's record. Builders
remain optimistic about business the rest of this year and next.
Report Details
The MBA also reported that its overall mortgage applications
index rose 10.2 percent to 299.5 last week when it isn't adjusted
for seasonal variations. The unadjusted refinancing index rose
6.7 percent to 414.6, and the unadjusted purchase index increased
11.1 percent to 279.7.
The MBA survey measures mortgage activity against a base
period with an index value of 100 set in the week ended March 16,
1990. The survey covers about 40 percent of the U.S. residential
mortgage market.
The MBA's adjusted indexes measure how many applications
U.S. mortgage bankers receive each week and account for seasonal
changes and holidays.
|
