Mortgage Applications Increase 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 21, 2009.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 6.3 percent compared with the previous week and 34.1 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index increased 12.7 percent from the previous week, the third increase in the last four weeks. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1.0 percent from one week earlier, solely boosted by increased demand for government loans. This marks the fourth consecutive weekly gain - the first time this has happened since March, when fixed mortgage rates first dropped and stayed below 5 percent.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 3.5 percent.  The four week moving average is up 1.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 4.8 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 56.5 percent of total applications from 53.3 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged from the previous week at 6.5 percent of total applications.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.24 percent from 5.15 percent, with points increasing to 1.07 from 0.98 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.58 percent from 4.52 percent, with points increasing to 1.18 from 0.93 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 6.74 percent from 6.66 percent, with points increasing to 0.17 from 0.07 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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