Industry data released on Wednesday showed that mortgage application volume tumbled over 16 percent last week, including an adjustment for the Memorial Day holiday. On an unadjusted basis, the Index plunged 32.5 percent.
The decline came as refinance activity plunged over 24 percent.
The Mortgage Bankers Association revealed that its market index of mortgage application volume fell 14.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week of May 29th. The Market Composite Index was 658.7 compared to 786.0 in the previous week, with results adjusted to account for the Memorial Day holiday.
On an unadjusted basis, the index fell 32.5 percent, and it was up 14.4 percent on a year-over-year basis.
The Refinance Index fell 24.1 percent from the previous week, adding to its 18.9 percent decline from the previous week. The refinance share of mortgage activity fell significantly, down to 62.4 percent from 69.3 percent of total applications in the previous week.
For the week of May 29th, the index ticked down to 2953.6 from 3890.4 in the previous week. This is down significantly from the 4794.4 reading from mid-May. Over the past four weeks the refinance index is down 12 percent.
However, cushioning the effect of the refinancing fall was an increase in the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, which rose 4.3 percent to 267.7 from 256.6 last week. It is up less than one percent over the last four weeks.
The adjustable rate mortgage share of activity increased to 3.0 percent from the previous week, when it made up 2.6 percent of total applications.
Interest rates increased across the board, with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages jumped to 5.25 percent from 4.81 percent last week. The 44 basis point increase in the 30-year rate was the largest since a 48 basis point increase in October 2008.
The rates for 15-year fixed-rate increased to 4.8 percent from 4.44 percent. One-year ARMs also rose, climbing to 6.61 percent from 6.55 percent in the previous week.
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