Home Purchase Applications Increase In Latest MBA Survey

November 9, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Findings from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) for the week ending November 4 revealed that the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume – was 661.3, an increase of 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 646.7, one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 1.0 percent compared with the previous week but was down 9.2 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index increased by 6.4 percent to 465.7 from 437.6 the previous week whereas the Refinance Index decreased by 3.4 percent to 1798.8 from 1862.8 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which increased 2.4 percent to 988.2 from 965.1 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased 0.3 percent to 115.6 from 115.2 the previous week.

“Last week, home purchase applications dropped below their 2004 level for the first time in six months,” said Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “Despite a 6.4 percent increase over the previous week, home purchase applications remain 3.6 percent below their level in early November, 2004.”

The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is down 1.2 percent to 681.2 from 689.5. The four week moving average is down 0.2 percent to 468.4 from 469.4 for the Purchase Index while this average is down 2.6 percent to 1918.5 from 1970.1 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 41.7 percent of total applications from 43.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 31.6 percent of total applications from 29.4 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.31 percent from 6.21 percent on week earlier, with points increasing to 1.37 from 1.27 (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 5.85 percent from 5.75 percent, with points increasing to 1.36 from 1.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 5.45 percent from 5.39 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 0.96 from 0.99 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association


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