Mortgage Application Volume Breaks Three Week Losing Streak

Mortgage applications jumped 6.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the holiday-shortened week ended September 9 according to data released this morning by the Mortgage Bankers Association.  The figure included an adjustment to account for Labor Day and was the first increase in volume in four weeks.

The Market Composite Index increased 15.4 percent on an unadjusted basis.  The unadjusted Purchase Index also rose, increasing 7.0 percent from the week ended September 2.  The index dropped 16.2 percent when unadjusted.  This Index was down 7.2 percent from the same week in 2010. 

The Refinance Index also ended a three week decline, rising 6.0 percent despite the shortened week for which it is not adjusted.    On a seasonally unadjusted basis, however, the Index was down 15.2 percent from the previous week and is 23.5 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four-week moving average for the Market Index was down 2.9 percent while the moving average of the Purchase Index was up 0.5 percent and the Refinance Index dropped 3.9 percent.  The moving averages are all seasonally adjusted. 

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 77.3 percent of total applications from 77.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 6.9 percent from 7.1 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for both the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) and the 15-year FRM set two more historic records.  The 30-year decreased to 4.17 percent with 0.97 point (including the origination fee) from 4.23 percent with 1.04 point.  The previous low was established during the week ended October 8, 2010 at 4.21 percent. The 15-year FRM was down one basis point from the previous week's historic low with points going up from 0.94 to 1.17.  All data is for 80 percent loan-to-value loans. 

MBA's survey covers over 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and includes data from mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed