RISMEDIA, February 3, 2011—The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 28, 2011. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 11.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 13.2% compared with the previous week. The previous week did not include a holiday adjustment for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The Refinance Index increased 11.7% from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 9.5% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 16.7% compared with the previous week and was 21.4% lower than the same week one year ago. “Applications increased this week relative to the holiday week,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “Looking over the past two weeks, purchase applications are flat, and refinance applications are down about five percent.”
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.0%. The four week moving average is down 1.5% for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 1.7% for the Refinance Index.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 69.3% of total applications from 70.3% the previous week. This is the lowest refinance share observed in the survey since the week ending May 14, 2010. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.5% from 5.2% of total applications from the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.81% from 4.80%, with points decreasing to 1.02 from 1.19 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.13% from 4.12%, with points decreasing to 1.01 from 1.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
For more information, visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
