Mortgage Application Volumes Drop 4.2% This Week, Says MBA

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 19th, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased 4.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.9 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 7.1 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.7 percent from one week earlier.  The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2.8 percent compared with the previous week and was 15.0 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.9 percent.  The four week moving average is up 3.6 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 1.2 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 65.0 percent of total applications from 67.3 percent the previousa week. This is the lowest refinance share observed in the survey since the week ending October 30, 2009.  The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4.8 percent from 4.6 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.01 percent from 4.91 percent, with points decreasing to 0.76 from 1.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The effective rate was essentially unchanged from last week due to the significant decrease in points.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.33 percent from 4.24 percent, with points decreasing to 0.77 from 1.47 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week due to the significant decrease in points.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs remained unchanged at 6.75 percent, with points increasing to 0.32 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

 

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