Mortgage Applications Decrease in Mid-December, Says MBA

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 18, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume decreased 10.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 10.9 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 10.1 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 11.6 percent from one week earlier.  The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 13.4 percent compared with the previous week and was 32.7 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.2 percent.  The four week moving average is down 1.0 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.6 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 75.9 percent of total applications from 75.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 3.8 percent from 4.1 percent of total applications the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages remained flat at 4.92 percent, with points increasing to 1.23 from 1.08 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.34 percent from 4.33 percent, with points increasing to 1.03 from 0.91 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs remained flat at 6.52 percent; with points remaining unchanged at 0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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