The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week.  The Refinance Index decreased 2 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week and was 18 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 59.8 percent of total applications from 59.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 6.6 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 14.1 percent from 13.2 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.9 percent from 11.9 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.7 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.12 percent, its highest level since August 2015, from 4.01 percent, with points decreasing to 0.45 from  0.47 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to 4.04 percent, its highest level since September 2015,  from 3.90 percent, with points increasing to 0.38 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.87 percent, its highest level since September 2015, from 3.81 percent, with points decreasing to 0.25 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.35 percent, its highest level since August 2015, from 3.24 percent, with points decreasing to 0.35 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.22 percent, its highest level since February 2015, from 3.12 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.25 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.