Mortgage Application Volumes Steady As Long-Term Rates Increase
August 3, 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 29 found that the Market Composite Index - a measure of mortgage loan application volume - was 752.1, a decrease of 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 754.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 0.3 percent compared with the previous week but was up 20.7 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.
The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index increased by 1.9 percent to 494.5 from 485.1 the previous week whereas the Refinance Index decreased by 3.0 percent to 2250.3 from 2320.3 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which decreased 0.4 percent to 1130.1 from 1134.9 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased 2.1 percent to 121.3 from 118.8 the previous week.
In an effort to better represent short term trends in the major indexes, four-week moving averages for seasonally-adjusted indexes will be included on a weekly basis. The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is down 3.2 percent to 774.9 from 800.2. The four week moving average is down 1.3 percent to 489.3 from 495.9 for the Purchase Index while this average is down 5.2 percent to 2435.8 from 2570.3 for the Refinance Index.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 41.7 percent of total applications from 42.9 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 28.5 percent of total applications from 29.4 percent the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.83 percent from 5.72 percent, with points decreasing to 1.16 from 1.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.41 percent from 5.32 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 1.13 from 1.25 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 4.78 percent from 4.70 percent one week earlier, with points increasing to 1.00 from 0.98 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
Source: MBA
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.