Purchase Applications Dip from Record High; Refinance Applications Hold Steady

January 28, 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 23. The Market Composite Index of mortgage loan applications-a measure of mortgage loan applications for purchases and refinancings-decreased by 5.2 percent to 868.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 916.1 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased by 12.1 percent compared with last week and was down 27.5 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The MBA seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 10.0 percent to 451.6 from 501.6 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index decreased by 0.9 percent to 3296.7 from 3327.3 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity included the Conventional Index, which decreased 2.2 percent to 1236.5 from 1264.3 the previous week. The Government Index decreased 23.8 percent to 255.3 from 335.1 the previous week.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 58.5 percent of total applications from 57.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 26.3 percent from 27.8 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.58 percent from 5.55 percent one week earlier , with points increasing to 1.47 from 1.32 the previous week (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 4.87 percent from 4.81 percent one week earlier , with points decreasing to 1.30 from 1.41 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs remained at 3.41 percent , with points decreasing to 1.04 from 1.07 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

Soure: MBA


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