Mortgage application activity was mixed in the week ending April 30 with refinancing activity lower, while purchase activity was higher as borrowers took advantage of the homebuyers tax credit before it expired on April 30.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the Refinance Index slipped 2.1% to ~2118 despite a decline in the average contract interest rate for 30-year mortgages to 5.02% from 5.08%.
As a percent of total application activity, refinancing share dropped to 51.9% from 55.7% and is at its lowest level since early July 2009.
Meanwhile, the Purchase Index jumped 13% to ~292. Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics, noted that both conventional and government purchase applications experienced significant increases.
He added that they also saw "the Government share of applications for purchasing a home increase to over 50% of all purchase applications last week, which is the highest in two decades."
For the month of April, refinancing activity was down 20% on average from March as 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged 5.10%, which is 11 basis points higher than the previous month's average.
At this time, prepayment speeds are projected to be around 10% slower in May (reported in June) from April.
Also influencing lower speeds is a decline in the number of collection days to 20 in May from 22.5 in April.
