Mortgage Application Volumes Dip in U.S.

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 23, 2012, this week's results include an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday saw mortgage applications in the U.S. decreased 0.9 percent from one week earlier.
 
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 24 percent compared with the previous week.
 
The Refinance Index decreased 2 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 24 percent compared with the previous week and was 8 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
 
The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 81 percent of total applications from the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 4 percent of total applications. The government share of purchase applications decreased to 33 percent, its lowest share in the survey since early 2009.
 
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) decreased to 3.53 percent from 3.54 percent, with points remaining constant at 0.40 (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 3.75 percent from 3.76 percent, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.40 (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 remained unchanged at3.36 percent, with points increasing to 0.65 from 0.63 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.
 
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained unchanged at 2.89 percent, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.25 (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 2.60 percent from 2.62 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.