Thursday, January 20, 2011

MBA: Purchase Applications/Refi’s Increase, Rates Stable

(LoanRateUpdate)
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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 14, 2011. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 5.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from last week.

On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 6.4 percent compared with the previous week. The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.4 percent.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1.9 percent from one week earlier. The four week moving average is down 0.8 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 3.1 percent compared with the previous week and was still16.0 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The Refinance Index increased 7.7 percent from the previous week. This is the third consecutive week that the Refinance Index has increased which coincidentally corresponds with the recent decline in interest rates. The four week moving average is up 2.3 percent.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 73.0 percent of total applications from 72.1 percent the previous week. This is the highest refinance share seen since the second week of December.

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.0 percent from 4.9 percent of total applications from the previous week.

"Mortgage rates have moved somewhat lower since the beginning of the year, as mixed data on the job market continue to cloud the outlook for the economy," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics. "Refinance applications have picked up, as borrowers take advantage of lower rates, but purchase applications remain quite low, indicating that home sales are unlikely to pick up any time soon."

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.77 percent from 4.78 percent, with points decreasing to 1.20 from 0.91 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate increased to 4.16 percent from 4.15 percent last week, with points decreasing to 0.90 from 1.001(including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

Tags: MBA, home purchase applications, mortgage rates, fixed rate mortgage, adjustable rate mortgage, refinance, interest rate

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