Mortgage Applications in U.S. Dip as Rates Tick Down

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 14, 2014, Mortgage applications decreased 4.1 percent from one week earlier.
 
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.1 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 3 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 6 percent from one week earlier and is at its lowest level since September of 2011. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 17 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 61 percent of total applications from 62 percent the previous week and is at its lowest level since September of 2013. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 8 percent of total applications.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.50 percent from 4.45 percent, with points decreasing to 0.26 from  0.34 (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 4.45 percent from 4.40 percent, with points decreasing to 0.11 from 0.14 (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 4.16 percent from 4.13 percent, with points increasing to 0.14 from 0.10 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.