Purchase Applications Steady as Refi Apps Languish

The summer doldrums prevailed during the week ended August 6 with mortgage activity barely stirring compared to the previous week and interest rates both mixed and flat. The Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index, a measure of application volume, bumped up 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and was essentially unchanged on an unadjusted basis.

The Refinance Index was unchanged from the week ended July 26 and the share of mortgage applications submitted for the purpose of refinancing remained at 63 percent of the total. Applications for the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) decreased from 37 percent of all refinancing activity to 36 percent.

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

Both the seasonally adjusted and the unadjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent compared with the previous week. The unadjusted index was 8 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 4.61 percent from 4.58 percent,with points increasing to 0.42 from 0.38. The effective rate increased from the prior week.

Contract rates for 30-year FRM with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) averaged 4.64 percent, unchanged from the previous week; points decreased to 0.34 from 0.39 and the effective rate was down.

FHA-backed 30-year FRM rates increased to 4.33 percent with 0.26 point from 4.30 percent with 0.31 point. The effective rate increased.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.66 percent from 3.67 percent, with points increasing to 0.43 from 0.40. The effective rate decreased from the previous week.

The market share of adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) remained at 6 percent during the week and the contract rate was also unchanged for the most popular product, the 5/1 ARM at 3.39 percent. Points moved up slightly to 0.37 point from 0.36 and the effective rate increased.

All rates are for loans with 80 percent loan to value ratios and points include the origination fee.

MBA's Mortgage Applications Survey covers over 75 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.