January 5 2011 (Chris Moore)
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the two weeks ending December 24, 2010 and December 31 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 3.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending December 24, but increased 2.3 percent for the week ending December 31.
On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 23.7 percent compared with the previous week before Christmas and decreased 10.0 percent last week (December 31).
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3.1 percent for the week ending December 24 and decreased 0.8 percent the week after.
The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 18.1 percent compared with the week before Christmas and decreased 12.2 percent the week after. The unadjusted Purchase Index was 12.1 percent higher and 6.1 percent lower respectively, compared to the same period last year.
For the week ending December 24, the Refinance Index decreased 7.2 percent from the previous week and increased 3.9 percent the following week.
The refinance share of mortgage activity for the week of December 24 decreased to 70.3 percent of total applications from 72.3 percent the previous week, and increased to 71.0 percent the week of December 31.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.93 percent from 4.84 percent for the week ending December 24, with points decreasing to 0.63 from 0.96 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans and for the week ending December 31, the average contract interest rate decreased to 4.82 with points increasing to 1.11.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate remained unchanged at 4.22 percent for the week ending December 24, with points increasing to 1.34 from 1.19 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans and for the week ending December 31, the average contract rate increased to 4.23 percent with points decreasing to 1.00.
Tags: MBA, home purchase applications, mortgage rates, fixed rate mortgage, adjustable rate mortgage, refinance, interest rate