Applications Inch Downward Despite Dip Seen in 30-Year Rates

Rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages are back below the 5% threshold, but that has not translated into an increase in activity, the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey found. MBA's Market Composite Index for the week of Feb. 5, 2010, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.6% compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased a scant 1.4% from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 7.0% from one week earlier. The market share of refi applications is 69.7%, an increase over the previous week's 69.2%. The market share of adjustable rate mortgage loan applications remained at 4.5% for the second consecutive week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.94% from 5.01%, with points rising to 1.06 from 1.04 (including the origination fee) for loans with an 80% percent loan-to-value ratio, the association reported. The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs remained unchanged at 4.33%. The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.68% from 6.70%.