January 26, 2011 (Chris Moore)

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey 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 last week. The results do not include any adjustments for the Martin Luther King holiday.

On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 12.0 percent compared with the previous week. The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 1.0 percent.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 8.7 percent from one week earlier, the lowest level since last October. The four week moving average is down 3.7 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index. 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 Refinance Index decreased 15.3 percent from the previous week, which is the lowest level for the index in a year. The four week moving average is down 0.1 percent.

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 4.80 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. The effective rate increased from last week.

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

Tags: MBA, home purchase applications, mortgage rates, fixed rate mortgage, adjustable rate mortgage, refinance, interest rate