Applications Fall

Mortgage applications fell 8.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Dec. 6, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications were up 29.5% on the week and 26.6% from the level recorded a year earlier. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Purchase Index fell from 386.6 to 358.8, and the Refinance Index declined from 4151.9 to 3793.8. Refinancings represented 70.0% of total applications, up from 69.5% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 14.4%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased from 6.09% to 5.95%, and points (including the origination fee) decreased from 1.51 to 1.42 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mbaa.org.