Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Mortgage Application Survey

The Weekly Mortgage Application Survey of the Mortgage Bankers Association -- with data for the week ending November 16 -- was released November 21.  The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 81% of total applications from the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4% of total applications.

Application Volume

• The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 13% compared with the previous week.
  
  
• The Refinance Index decreased 3% from the previous week.
  
  
• The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 11% compared with the previous week and was 6% lower than the same week one year ago.

Interest Rates

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 3.54% from 3.52%, with points decreasing to 0.40 from  0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) decreased to 3.76% from 3.83%, with points decreasing to 0.40 from 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.36% from 3.34%, with points decreasing to 0.63 from 0.78 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 2.89% from 2.88%, with points decreasing to 0.25 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week. 

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry. Its membership of over 2,200 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field.

For additional information, visit MBA's web site: www.mortgagebankers.org.