Drop in Loan Applications Includes Upward Revision in Previous Week

Survey data from the Mortgage Bankers Association released Tuesday show a decline in loan applications during the week ended Nov. 20 relative to an upwardly revised number the week previous. The group's Market Composite Index during the week ended Nov. 20 slid 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis and 5.8% on an unadjusted basis. The MBA said the comparative data for the week ended Nov. 20 reflect an upward change in survey information from the week ended Nov. 13 that stemmed from one participant's upward revision of its submission to show higher application volume. That participant also reclassified of some of its loan applications to refinance from purchase. This left the total for the former "modestly higher" and the total for the latter "slightly lower" than originally reported for the Nov. 13 week. During the week ending Nov. 20, purchases were up 9.6% on a seasonally adjusted, week-to-week basis, up 4.9% from the previous week on an unadjusted basis and 13.7% lower than the same week a year ago. Respective MBA indices on a seasonally adjusted, four-week moving average basis register the following: a 0.5% increase in applications overall, a 6.4% drop in purchases and a 4% gain in refis. The refi share for the week ending Nov. 20 was 71.7% of total apps, down from 74.6% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share inched up to 5.3% from 5.1% during the same period. The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs dropped to 6.66% from 6.85% with points increasing to 0.33 from 0.29 during the week ended Nov. 20. During the same period, the rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages stayed stable at 4.32% while points jumped to 1.05 from 1.01, and the rate for the 30-year FRMs that dominate the market fell slightly to 4.82% from 4.83% with points increasing slightly to 1.19 from 1.18.