Mortgage Applications Down – But Not Adjusted for Martin Luther King Holiday

Econintersect: Mortgage applications are down, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) for the week ending January 21, 2011.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 12.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 12.0 percent compared with the previous week. The results do not include an adjustment for the Martin Luther King holiday.

The Refinance Index decreased 15.3 percent from the previous week and reached its lowest level since January 2010.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 8.7 percent from one week earlier. The Purchase Index is at its lowest level since October 2010.  The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 20.8 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 1.0 percent.  The four week moving average is down 3.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 0.1 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 70.3 percent of total applications from 73.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.2 percent from 5.0 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.8 percent from 4.77 percent, with points decreasing to 1.19 from 1.20 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This week’s increase in the rate followed three consecutive weekly decreases.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.12 percent from 4.16 percent, with points increasing to 1.26 from 0.90 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The survey covers over 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990.  Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.  Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

source:  MBA