Mortgage Refinance Applications Increase as Rates Drop 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 September 18, 2009.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 12.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, which was a holiday shortened week.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 24.6 percent compared with the previous week and 14.0 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index increased 17.4 percent from the previous week as, for the first time since mid-May, the 30-year fixed rate dipped below 5 percent. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5.6 percent from one week earlier, driven by applications for government-insured loans. The Government Purchase Index is at the highest level ever recorded in the survey and the share of purchase applications that were government-insured was 45.7 percent, the highest share since November 1990.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 4.3 percent.  The four week moving average is up 0.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 6.8 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 63.8 percent of total applications from 61.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.7 percent from 6.0 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.97 percent from 5.08 percent, with points increasing to 1.12 from 0.98 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained unchanged at 4.41 percent, with points decreasing to 1.05 from 1.12 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.52 percent from 6.61 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.20 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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