Mortgage Applications Increase; Third Consecutive Week Fixed Rates Below Five Percent

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(News Source: Mortgage Bankers Association)

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 2, 2009.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 16.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index also increased 16.4 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 18.2 percent from the previous week, following the third consecutive week where the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was below 5 percent, and is at its highest level since mid-May. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 13.2 percent from one week earlier, which puts the index at its highest level since January. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 12.9 percent compared with the previous week and was 2.2 percent lower than the same period one year ago. Additionally, the seasonally adjusted Government Purchase index is at a record level in the survey after a 14.4 percent increase from the week before.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 4.2 percent.  The four week moving average is up 0.2 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 6.7 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 66.3 percent of total applications from 65.3 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.89 percent from 4.94 percent, with points increasing to 1.13 from 0.94 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This rate is at its lowest level since May 2009 when it was 4.81 percent.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.32 percent from 4.34 percent, with points increasing to 1.04 from 1.01 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. This is the lowest 15-year fixed-rate ever recorded in the survey.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 6.56 percent from 6.40 percent, with points increasing to 0.30 from 0.29 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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