Mortgage Applications Decline This Week, Says MBA

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(WASHINGTON, DC) -- According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 5, 2010, the Market Composite Index decreased 1.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.6 percent compared with the previous week.

The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey is a measure of weekly mortgage loan application volumes.

The Refinance Index increased 1.4 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 7.0 percent from one week earlier.  The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 7.5 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 3.8 percent.  The four week moving average is up 0.8 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 69.7 percent of total applications from 69.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 4.5 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.94 percent from 5.01 percent, with points increasing to 1.06 from 1.04 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained unchanged at 4.33 percent, with points decreasing to 0.95 from 1.17 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.68 percent from 6.70 percent, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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