U.S. Mortgage Applications Spike 11.3% in Late January

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey  for the week ending January 28, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 11.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 13.2 percent compared with the previous week.  The previous week did not include a holiday adjustment for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The Refinance Index increased 11.7 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 9.5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 16.7 percent compared with the previous week and was 21.4 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

"Applications increased this week relative to the holiday week," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics. "Looking over the past two weeks, purchase applications are flat, and refinance applications are down about five percent."

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.0 percent.  The four week moving average is down 1.5 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 1.7 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 69.3 percent of total applications from 70.3 percent the previous week. This is the lowest refinance share observed in the survey since the week ending May 14, 2010. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.5 percent from 5.2 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.81 percent from 4.80 percent, with points decreasing to 1.02 from 1.19 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.13 percent from 4.12 percent, with points decreasing to 1.01 from 1.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

 

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