MBA Apps Survey Falls

The Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Applications Survey Market Composite Index fell over 14% on a seasonally adjusted basis from last week as the refinancing component dropped by almost 19%. For the week ended May 22, the MCI, an overall measure of mortgage applications, was 786.0, compared with 915.9 one week earlier. The refinance share of mortgage activity fell to 69.3% of total applications from 73.6% the previous week. The Refinance Index fell to 3890.4 from 4794.4 the previous week; however the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index improved by 1% to 256.6 from 254.0 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 13.8% compared with the previous week and increased 28.5% compared with the same week one year earlier. Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 2.6% of applications, up from 2.4% for the previous week, the MBA said. There was an increase in the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to 4.81% from 4.69%, with points (including the origination fee) increasing by 15 basis points to 1.28 from 1.13 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the association reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.