Mortgage Applications Fall 2.1% in Week Ended August 19

Washington, DC, August 25, 2016—Mortgage applications decreased 2.1% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 19.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 3% from the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.3% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2% compared with the previous week and was 8% higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 62.4% of total applications from 62.6% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 4.6% of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 8.9% from 9.6% the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 12.4% from 13.2% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.6% the week prior.