Refinance Spree Continues with Rates at Near 3-Year Lows

BY: JANN SWANSONRefinance Spree Continues with Rates at Near 3-Year Lows Aug 14 2019, 5:31AM

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage application volume, rose 21.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended August 9.  MBA attributed the substantial decline in interest rates at the beginning of the week for the surge of applications which were concentrated on mortgage refinancing. The Composite Index rose 20 percent before seasonal adjustment.

Purchase mortgage applications were only slightly affected by the tsunami; that index rose only 1.9 percent from the previous week on an unadjusted basis and 1 percent before adjustment.  The unadjusted index was 12 percent higher than during the same week in 2018. The Refinance Index however was up 37 percent from the previous week to its highest level since July 2016 and was 196 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The share of applications that were for refinancing rose to 61.4 percent from 53.9 percent the previous week.