Mortgage Application Volumes Uptick 15% in U.S.

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 11, 2013, mortgage applications increased 15.2 percent from one week earlier.
 
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 15.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 45 percent compared with the previous week.
 
The Refinance Index increased 15 percent from the previous week.
 
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 13 percent from one week earlier to the highest level since April 2011. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 47 percent compared with the previous week and was 5 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
 
The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 82 percent of total applications from the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 3 percent of total applications.
 
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) remained unchanged at 3.61 percent, with points decreasing to 0.38 from 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.
 
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) increased to 3.88 percent from 3.78 percent, with points unchanged at 0.38 (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 3.39 percent from 3.35 percent, with points decreasing to 0.58 from 0.69 (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 remained unchanged at 2.88 percent, with points decreasing to 0.27 from 0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
 
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 2.66 percent from 2.64 percent, with points decreasing to 0.34 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.