Mortgage Applications in U.S. Uptick in Mid-December

---

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 19, 2014, mortgage applications increased 0.9 percent from one week earlier.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.4 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 1 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent from one week earlier.  The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 1 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 67 percent of total applications from 66 percent the previous week.  The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.5 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 8.6 percent this week from 8.7 percent last week.  The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.3 percent this week from 10.6 percent last week.  The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.8 percent this week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.02 percent, the lowest level since May 2013, from 4.06 percent, with points increasing to 0.26 from  0.21 (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 $417,000) increased to 4.07 percent from 3.99 percent, with points decreasing to 0.23 from 0.28 (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 decreased to 3.81 percent from 3.86 percent, with points increasing to 0.00 from -0.04 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.29 percent from 3.33 percent, with points increasing to 0.29 from 0.27 (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 3.10 percent from 3.00 percent, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.43 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.