Mortgage Application Volumes Remain Flat, Despite Record Low Rates

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey  for the week ending August 6, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.4 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 0.6 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.3 percent compared with the previous week and was 34.1 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.2 percent.  The four week moving average is up 1.8 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 1.0 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 78.1 percent of total applications from 78.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.9 percent from 5.4 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.57 percent from 4.60 percent, with points decreasing to 0.89 from 0.93 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  This was the lowest 30-year contract rate ever recorded in the survey. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.95 percent from 4.03 percent, with points increasing to 1.08 from 1.01 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. This was the lowest 15-year contract rate ever recorded in the survey. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 7.00 percent from 7.10 percent, with points increasing to 0.22 from 0.21 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

 

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