Yahoo Finance reports that the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its report on mortgage applications last Wednesday morning, noting a week-over-week increase of 0.1 percent in the group's seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending August 7. That followed an increase of 4.7 percent for the week ending July 31. Mortgage loan rates moved changeably on all types of loans last week.
Furthermore the report says that the composite index decreased by 1 percent week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index fell by 4 percent compared to the week ending in July 31, 2015. The unadjusted purchase index went down by 4 percent for the week and is now 20 percent higher year over year.
The MBA's refinance index went up by 3% week over week to its highest spot since May, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing shot up slightly from 51.3% to 53.1%, the highest the refinancing share has been since April.
On, the other hand, adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.8% of all applications, remained the same from the previous week.
The unexpected depreciation of China's money, to possible make exports look attractive, may not directly affect the U.S. hone mortgage market but the effect is notable and that this may mean their economic growth is hindered. The article therefore mentions that when investors see signs that the global economy is not progressing, they would tend to rather invest in bonds than with equities which in turn keeps the mortgage rates down.
Furthermore MBA reports, "last week's average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remained unchanged 4.13%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage also remained unchanged at 4.08%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 3.36% to 3.39%. The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan increased from 3.02% to 3.11%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan dropped from 3.96% to 3.94%"