Mortgage Application Volumes in U.S. Dip 6.7%

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According to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 8, mortgage applications decreased 6.7 percent from one week earlier.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 6.3 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 7.7 percent to its lowest level since February 11, 2011.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.7 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 11.4 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 3.3 percent.  The four week moving average is up 0.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 5.3 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 60.3 percent of total applications from 61.2 percent the previous week. This is the lowest refinance share since May 7, 2010.  The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased for the fourth consecutive week to 4.98 percent from 4.93 percent, with points increasing to 0.93 from 0.69 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This is the highest average contract rate reported since February 18, 2011.  The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.17 percent from 4.14 percent, with points increasing to 1.22 from 1.09 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate also increased from last week.

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