Mortgage Applications in U.S. Dip in Mid-January

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 23, 2015, mortgage applications decreased 3.2 percent from one week earlier. This week's results include an adjustment to account for the Martin Luther King holiday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 3.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 12 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 5 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent compared with the previous week and was 1 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Government Index increased 9.2 percent from the previous week to the highest level since July 2013.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 72 percent of total applications from 74 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.7 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 9.1 percent this week from 8.0 percent last week. The VA share of total applications increased to 10.7 percent this week from 9.4 percent last week. The USDA share of total applications increased to 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 3.83 percent from 3.80 percent, with points decreasing to 0.26 from 0.29 (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 3.87 percent from 3.86 percent, with points increasing to 0.33 from 0.23 (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 3.71 percent from 3.66 percent, with points decreasing to 0.07 from 0.15 (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 3.15 percent from 3.10 percent, with points decreasing to 0.28 from 0.29 (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 2.96 percent from 2.87 percent, with points increasing to 0.42 from 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.