Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

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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 August 14, 2009.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 5.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4.8 percent compared with the previous week and increased 25.0 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index increased 6.9 percent following a 7.2 percent drop in the prior week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3.9 percent, the third consecutive weekly gain.  The large swings in mortgage rates over the past month have resulted in see-saw like activity in the Refinance Index.  By contrast, the purchase activity has not been deterred by interest rate volatility, and has continued to trend gradually upward.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.1 percent.  The four week moving average is up 1.5 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 1.4 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 53.3 percent of total applications from 52.3 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.5 percent from 5.8 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.15 percent from 5.38 percent, with points decreasing to 0.98 from 1.18 (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 4.52 percent from 4.71 percent, with points decreasing to 0.93 from 1.20 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.66 percent from 6.71 percent, with points decreasing to 0.07 from 0.08 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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