Mortgage Applications Up In MBA Weekly Survey

MBA (3/5/2008 ) Kemp, Carolyn
Mortgage applications rebounded last week, increasing by 3 percent as key interest rates fell back under 6 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Feb. 29.
The Market Composite Index rose to 684.9, an increase of 3.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 665.1 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 15.3 percent compared with the previous President’s Day holiday-shortened week and was up 1.1 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. However, the four-week moving average fell by 11.0 percent to 809.1 from 909.5.

The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index also rebounded, increasing by 4.5 percent to 2569.0 from 2458.9 the previous week. The four-week moving average continued to reflect decreased activity, down by 15.6 percent to 3365.8 from 3987.0. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 52.4 percent of total applications from 52.0 percent the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased by 1.4 percent to 363.1 from 358.2 one week earlier. The Conventional Purchase Index increased 0.9 percent, while the Government Purchase Index (largely FHA) increased 3.5 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index increased 14.5 percent to 401.6 from 350.7 the previous week. The four-week moving average fell by 2.8 percent to 370.7 from 381.3.

The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index increased 2.4 percent to 929.0 from 907.1 the previous week; the seasonally adjusted Government Index increased 6.2 percent to 277.8 from 261.5 the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.98 percent from 6.27 percent, with points unchanged at 1.15 (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 5.26 percent from 5.77 percent, with points increasing to 1.08 from 1.01 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages decreased to 5.83 percent from 5.84 percent, with points decreasing to 0.85 from 0.86 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The ARM share of activity increased to 17.3 percent from 15.0 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The survey covers 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.