Mortgage Loan Applications Up In Latest MBA Survey

February 27, 2002

Refinance Index Decreases From Previous Week

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The market composite index of mortgage loan applications-a measure of loan purchases and refinances-for the week ending February 22 increased 3.9 percent to 551.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 530.5 the previous week, according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA), which was released today. On an unadjusted basis, the application index decreased 4.9 percent and was down 1.8 percent compared to the same week a year earlier.

The MBA seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased to 315.5 from 290.2 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index decreased to 1921.6 from 1927.9 the previous week. Other seasonally adjusted index activity included the Conventional Index, which increased to 738.7 from 713.3 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased to 238.1 from 225.3 the previous week.

Refinancing activity represented 48.6 percent of total applications, decreasing from 51.5 percent the previous week. The share of ARM activity decreased slightly to 14.5 percent from 14.6 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for30-year fixed rate mortgages was 6.74 percent, decreasing from 6.78 percent the previous week, with points increasing to 1.34 from 1.30 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for15-year fixed rate mortgages was 6.19 percent, decreasing from 6.22 percent the previous week, with points decreasing to 1.20 from 1.23 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 1-year ARMs was 4.95 percent, decreasing from 5.01 percent the previous week, with points increasing slightly to 1.08 from 1.07 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association


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