Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

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(News Source: Mortgage Bankers Association)

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 28, 2009.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.1 percent compared with the previous week and increased 22.7 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index decreased 3.1 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1.0 percent from a week ago.

The only segment of the survey that posted an increase in activity was the government Purchase Index, which rose 0.5 percent from the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis -- the seventh consecutive weekly gain.  For the month of August, the government-insured share of purchase applications was 40.4 percent, up from 38.3 percent in July and 31.7 percent in August 2008.  The share was the highest since February 1991.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.7 percent, while the four week moving average also increased 1.2 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index and increased 2.1 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged this week at 56.5 percent. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.6 percent from 6.5 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.15 percent from 5.24 percent, with points increasing to 1.09 from 1.07 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.57 percent from 4.58 percent, with points decreasing to 0.85 from 1.18 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.71 percent from 6.74 percent, with points increasing to 0.20 from 0.17 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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