Mortgage Bankers Record Another Jump in Refinance Applications

With long-term mortgage rates once again slipping under 5%, the Market Composite Index increased as refinance applications increased for the week of Oct. 30, the Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey found. The MCI, a measure of loan application volume, increased 8.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 7.9% compared with the previous week. The refinance index increased 14.5% from the previous week but the seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased 1.8% from one week earlier. The market share of refinance applications, according to the survey, rose to 66.1% from 62.3% for the previous week. The share of adjustable-rate mortgage applications fell to 6.1% for the week, up from 6.9% one week prior. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.97% from 5.04%, with points decreasing from 1.25 to 1.01 (including the origination fee) for loans with an 80% loan-to-value ratio, the association reported. The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs declined by a rather large 20 basis points from the previous week, to 4.33%, while for one-year adjustable-rate loans, it increased by 4 bps to 6.79%. The MBA stopped disclosing index values with the July 31 data release. The group said because of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, the release of next week's survey results would be delayed a day. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.