Applications Jump

Mortgage applications jumped 24.3% on a seasonally and holiday-adjusted basis for the week ended Jan. 3, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications were up 46.9% on the week and 160.2% from the level recorded a year earlier. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Purchase Index rose from 332.4 to 376.2, and the Refinance Index surged from 4548.8 to 5871.1. Refinancings represented 77.8% of total applications, up from 75.9% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 11.9%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased from a survey-record low of 5.69% to 5.85%, and points (including the origination fee) decreased from 1.53 to 1.43 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mbaa.org.