The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that weekly mortgage applications soared in the final week of September, just before the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule took effect.
MBA said its weekly Mortgage Applications Survey found applications rose 25.5 percent for the week ending Oct. 2 from a week earlier. The Purchase Index climbed 27 percent while the Refinance Index rose 24 percent as homebuyers beat the deadline to get applications in before the new mortgage disclosure rules came into effect.
“The number of applications for purchase and refinance mortgages soared last week due both to renewed rate volatility and as many applications were filed prior to the TILA-RESPA regulatory change,” MBA Vice President of Research and Economics Lynn Fisher said. “The average loan size of applications in the weekly survey increased by 6.9 percent, driven by a 12.1 percent increase in the average size of refinances.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 57.4 percent of total applications from 58.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.6 percent of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 12.7 percent from 13.8 percent a week ago. The VA share of total applications decreased to 9.2 percent from 10.3 percent and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.7 percent the week before.