Purchase Mortgage Application Volume Highest in a Month: MBA

The total volume of mortgage applications submitted in the week ending July 16 slipped a seasonally adjusted 4.4% from the previous week, despite another increase in purchase mortgage applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). At the same time, a separate survey measuring household mortgage application activity ticked down slightly. MBA found the volume of applications submitted for purchase mortgages rose 2% after the previous week’s 3.4% growth. It marks the highest purchase application index in a month, since the end of June, the MBA said. The volume of applications submitted for refinance fell 5.9% in the same week, pushing the refinance share of mortgage application activity down to 78%, from 79.4% last week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of application activity rose to 5.7% this week, from 5.2% the previous week. The Mortgage Maxx index, which adjusts data to reflect the number of households applying for a mortgage, showed household application activity continued to inch downward, slipping 0.9% in the same week after declining 0.4% in the week before. Write to Diana Golobay.