Mortgage Refinance Activity Increases to Highest Level Since May 2009

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey  for the week ending August 13, the Market Composite Index increased 13.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 12.4 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 17.1 percent from the previous week and was the highest Refinance Index observed in the survey since the week ending May 15, 2009. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.6 percent compared with the previous week and was 38.6 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 2.6 percent.  The four week moving average is up 0.1 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 3.2 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 81.4 percent of total applications from 78.1 percent the previous week, which is the highest refinance share observed since January 2009. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.7 percent from 5.9 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.60 percent from 4.57 percent, with points increasing to 0.92 from 0.89 (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 increased to 3.99 percent from 3.95 percent, with points decreasing to 1.05 from 1.08 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.90 percent from 7.00 percent, with points decreasing to 0.21 from 0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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