Apps Rise Slightly

Mortgage applications climbed 5.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Feb. 21, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications fell 4.5% on the week but were up 101.3% from the level recorded a year earlier. Due to the President's Day holiday, the seasonally adjusted indexes were adjusted to allow for a one-half day holiday effect. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Purchase Index declined from 334.1 to 309.0, and the Refinance Index rose from 5438.1 to 5969.6. Refinancings represented 75.3% of total applications, up from 72.5% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 13.3%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to a new record low of 5.65% from 5.69%, and points (including the origination fee) decreased from 1.61 to 1.49 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mbaa.org.