Apps Set More Records

The Refinance Index climbed to another record high during the week ended March 14, as did the index measuring the overall mortgage application market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.The seasonally adjusted refi index rose from a record 8920.9 the week before to 9387.0, while the seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index climbed from a record 1603.1 to 1673.4, the MBA said. On an unadjusted basis, applications were up 4.4% overall on the week and 254.8% from the level recorded a year earlier. Refinancings represented 80.5% of total applications, up from the previous week's record high of 79.8%, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 12.8%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose from a record low of 5.42% to 5.61%, and points (including the origination fee) decreased from 1.55 to 1.48 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mbaa.org.