Despite mortgage rates holding below 5%, mortgage application activity slipped 2.1% for the week ending Feb. 12.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was unchanged at 4.94%.
Meanwhile, the Refinance Index lost nearly all of the previous week's increase, falling 1.2% to ~2863, while the Purchase Index declined 4% to ~213.
As a percent of total applications, refinancing share was 69.3%, down from 69.7% previously. ARM share was also lower to 4.4% from 4.5%.
While refinancing activity remains muted despite mortgage rate levels, prepayment speeds in March are expected to gain in part on a higher day count of 23 days versus 19 in February.
Speeds on 30-year GNMAs in our sample are currently projected to increase 16% after a projected slowing of around 1% in February.
For FNMAs, however, the dominant influence will be the beginning of their delinquency buyback program. As a result, speeds are currently estimated to soar 78%.
