| Title: | Mortgage Applications Decrease from Thanksgiving Week in Latest MBA Weekly Survey |
| Source: | MBA |
| Date: | 12/10/2008 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 10, 2008) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December
5, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 796.8, a decrease of 7.1 percent
on a seasonally adjusted basis from 857.7 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 32.7 percent compared
with the previous week and was up 2.2 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. Most categories of the survey
declined from the previous week’s results, which were adjusted to account for the shortened week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Refinance Index decreased 0.9 percent to 3767.3 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased
17.4 percent to 298.1 from one week earlier. The Conventional Purchase Index decreased 15.5 percent while the Government Purchase
Index (largely FHA) decreased 21.3 percent.
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 17.8 percent. The four week moving average is
up 1.2 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 33.2 percent for the Refinance Index.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 73.7 percent of total applications from 69.1 percent the previous week.
The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 1.1 percent from 1.4 percent of total applications from
the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.45 percent from 5.47 percent, with points increasing to 1.23 from 1.16 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.09 percent from 5.13 percent, with points decreasing to 1.26 from 1.28 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 6.76 percent from 6.61 percent, with points decreasing to 0.26 from 0.52 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
**SPECIAL NOTES**
The survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly
since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is
March 16, 1990=100.
###
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry
that employs more than 280,000 people in virtually every community in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the
association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation's residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand
homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and
fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety
of publications. Its membership of over 2,400 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies,
mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending
field. For additional information, visit MBA's Web site: www.mortgagebankers.org.