Applications Fall

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 853.4 to 791.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the holiday-shortened week ended July 8, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications decreased 25.7% on the week but were up 22.0% from the level recorded a year earlier. The Purchase Index fell from 520.8 to 489.0 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index declined from 2788.2 to 2554.3. The four-week moving average for the Purchase Index fell 2.0%, from 501.7 to 491.7, and the four-week moving average for the Refinance Index declined 3.8%, from 2715.0 to 2611.7. (The moving averages are a recent addition to the MBA survey.) Refinancings represented 45.1% of total applications, down from 45.7% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 27.9%, its lowest level since March 2004, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose from 5.58% to 5.62%, and points (including the origination fee) increased from 1.14 to 1.26 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.