MBA App Index Rises, Refis' Influence Wanes

The market share of refinancings during the week ended May 1 declined slightly but the overall number of applications received increased according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, was 979.7, an increase of 2.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 960.6 one week earlier. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 74.4% of total applications from 75.3% the previous week. However, the Refinance Index increased 1.2% to 5169.3 from 5108.2 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5.0% to 264.3 from 251.6 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the MCI increased 2.4% compared with the previous week and increased 43.7% compared with the same week one year earlier. Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 2.1% of applications for the second consecutive week, the MBA said. There was an increase in the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to 4.79% from 4.62%, with points (including the origination fee) increasing to 1.17 from 1.14 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the association reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.