Home purchase activity ticked down again for the third-straight week but overall activity has been up annually since January as inventory has been increasingly coming onto the market. 

According to the latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) for the week ending March 28, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased 1.6% from the previous week’s 2.0% decrease. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1% compared with the previous week.

“Treasury yields continue to be volatile as economic uncertainty dominates markets. Most mortgage rates finished last week lower, with the 30-year fixed essentially unchanged at 6.70%. Last week’s level of purchase applications was its highest since the end of January, driven by a 3% increase in conventional purchases, while government purchase applications were down 2%,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. 

The Refinance Index was down 6% from the previous week but was 57% higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2% compared with the previous week and was 9% higher than the same week one year ago, MBA reported

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 38.6% of total applications from 40.4% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.5% of total applications.

“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,” Kan added. “Refinance applications were down almost 6% last week and remain very sensitive to rate movements, as most borrowers have mortgages with lower rates.”

For the full report, click here.

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