Mortgage Applications Uptick in Latest MBA Survey

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey  for the week ending October 22, the Market Composite Index increased 3.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3.1 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 3.0 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3.9 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 3.5 percent compared with the previous week and was 30.3 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.4 percent.  The four week moving average is down 0.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 1.9 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 82.3 percent of total applications from 82.4 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.3 percent from 5.8 percent of total applications the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.25 percent from 4.34 percent, with points increasing to 1.0 from 0.81 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  The 30-year contract rate matches the rate from the week ending October 1, 2010, which was the second lowest ever observed in this survey. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.67 percent from 3.74 percent, with points decreasing to 0.96 from 1.00 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The 15-year contract rate is the second lowest observed in this survey, with the lowest being 3.62 percent from two weeks ago. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

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