Press Release - Weekly Application Survey

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 5.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week.  The Refinance Index also decreased 5 percent from the previous week.  The Refinance Index has declined for five straight weeks and is at its lowest level since the end of August.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 7 percent compared with the previous week and was 3 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

“Last week’s storm had a significant impact on application volumes on the East Coast,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics.  “Applications fell more than 60 percent compared to the prior week in New Jersey, almost 50 percent in New York and nearly 40 percent in Connecticut.  Other East Coast states also saw declines over the week, while many states in other parts of the country had increases in application volumes.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity remained constant at 80 percent of total applications from the previous week.  The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity was unchanged at 4 percent of total applications.  The HARP share of refinance applications increased to 27 percent from 25 percent the prior week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) decreased to 3.61 percent from 3.65 percent, with points increasing to 0.45 from  0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) decreased to 3.88 percent from 3.94 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.37 percent from 3.41 percent, with points decreasing to 0.75 from 0.76 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained unchanged at 2.95 percent, with points increasing to 0.40 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 2.61 percent from 2.66 percent, with points increasing to 0.41 from 0.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

If you would like to purchase a subscription of MBA’s Weekly Applications Survey, please visit www.mortgagebankers.org/WeeklyApps, contact mbaresearch@mortgagebankers.org or click here.

The survey covers over 75 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.

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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 2,200 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.