Mortgage Applications Decrease to a 13-Year Low

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 4, the Market Composite Index decreased 12.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. This week's results include an adjustment to account for the Memorial Day holiday.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 21.1 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 14.3 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5.7 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 16.3 percent compared with the previous week and was 30.4 percent lower than Memorial Day week last year.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.7 percent.  The four week moving average is down 11.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 3.6 percent for the Refinance Index.

"Purchase and refinance applications dropped this week, even after an adjustment for the Memorial Day holiday.  Purchase applications are now 35 percent below their level of four weeks ago, as homebuyers have not yet returned to the market following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit at the end of April," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics.  "Although rates remained essentially flat, refinance applications dropped this past week for the first time in a month.  Despite the historically low rates, many homeowners have already refinanced recently, remain underwater on their mortgages, have uncertain job situations, or have damaged credit following this downturn, and therefore may not qualify to refinance."

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 72.2 percent of total applications from 73.8 percent the previous week. This is the first decline in the refinance share in five weeks. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.1 percent from 5.2 percent of total applications from the previous week, which is the third consecutive weekly decrease.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.81 percent from 4.83 percent, with points decreasing to 1.02 from 1.05 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.26 percent from 4.24 percent, with points decreasing to 0.95 from 1.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.94 percent from 6.96 percent, with points increasing to 0.30 from 0.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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