Mortgage Application Volumes Dip in U.S. in Mid-February

---

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 17, mortgage applications decreased 4.5 percent from one week earlier.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.6 percent compared with the previous week. 

The Refinance Index decreased 4.8 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 2.9 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 1.4 percent compared with the previous week and was 9.2 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.30 percent.  The four week moving average is down 3.21 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.33 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 80.1 percent of total applications from 81.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.3 percent from 5.4 percent of total applications from the previous week.

In January 2012, among refinance borrowers, 57.2 percent of applications were for fixed-rate 30-year loans, 24.4 percent for 15-year fixed loans, and 5.5 percent for ARMs.  The share of refinance applications for "other" fixed-rate mortgages with amortization schedules other than 15 and 30-year terms was 12.9 percent of all refinance applications. The share for 30-year fixed, 15-year fixed and ARM increased from the previous month while the "other" fixed category shares decreased from last month.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 4.09 percent from 4.08 percent, with points increasing to 0.53 from  0.51 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) increased to 4.32 percent from 4.30 percent, with points decreasing to 0.42 from 0.44 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV ratio loans.  The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA remained unchanged at3.87 percent, with points decreasing to 0.41 from 0.78 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV ratio loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.38 percent from 3.33 percent, with points decreasing to 0.37 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 2.94 percent from 2.93 percent, with points increasing to 0.44 from 0.42 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV ratio loans.  The effective rate also increased from last week.