U.S. Mortgage Applications Up, Refinance Applications Down in Late October

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 29, the Market Composite Index decreased 5.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5.3 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 6.4 percent from the previous week. This is the third straight week the Refinance Index has decreased.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1.4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 0.2 percent compared with the previous week and was 28.0 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 0.1 percent.  The four week moving average is down 2.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.8 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 81.3 percent of total applications from 82.3 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.4 percent from 5.3 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.28 percent from 4.25 percent, with points increasing to 1.07 from 1.00 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.64 percent from 3.67 percent, with points increasing to 1.08 from 0.96 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.

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