WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 11 found that the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 561.2, an increase of 1.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 553.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.4 percent compared with the previous week but was down 25.6 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. 

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 0.8 percent to 385.9 from 388.9 the previous week and the Refinance Index increased by 4.6 percent to 1587.5 from 1518.1 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which increased 1.5 percent to 833.3 from 821.2 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased 0.7 percent to 107.6 from 106.8 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is up 0.9 percent to 544 from 538.9. The four week moving average is down 0.8 percent to 385 from 388.2 for the Purchase Index, while this average is up 3.7 percent to 1477 from 1424.5 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 39.6 percent of total applications from 38.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 27.2 percent of total applications from 27.6 percent the previous week. The ARM share is at its lowest since February 2004.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.54 percent from 6.45 percent, with points decreasing to 0.98 from 1.01 (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 6.15 percent from 6.10 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 1.09 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. 

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 5.97 percent from 5.96 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.80 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

Source: MBA