The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 15 found that the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 595.8, an increase of 2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 584.2 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 12.3 percent compared with the previous week and was down 22.5 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. The previous week was shortened due to the Labor Day holiday.

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 3 percent to 397.9 from 410.2 the previous week and the Refinance Index increased by 9.5 percent to 1748.7 from 1597 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which increased by 1.6 percent to 884.6 from 870.8 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased 7.6 percent to 114.3 from 106.2 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is up 1.5 percent to 575.7 from 567.1. The four week moving average is up 1 percent to 393.4 from 389.5 for the Purchase Index, while this average is up 2.2 percent to 1637.4 from 1602.4 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 43.7 percent of total applications from 40.3 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 27 percent of total applications from 25.5 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.36 percent from 6.32 percent, with points increasing to 1.11 from 1.06 (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 6.04 percent from 5.98 percent, with points decreasing to 1.06 from 1.08 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 5.95 percent from 5.96 percent, with points decreasing to 0.77 from 0.82 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

Source: MBA