Seasonally Adjusted Applications Drop Almost 2% in Week

Mortgage applications fell 1.9% during the latest week tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index from the previous week. That index fell 1.7% week-to-week on an adjusted basis during the week ended March 12. The MBA's Refinance Index slid 1.7% from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index dropped 2.3% on a week-to-week basis. The unadjusted Purchase Index was down 1.8% week-to-week and represented a 13.9% drop from the same week a year ago. Four-week moving averages are as follows: for the Market Composite Index, up 0.8%; for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, up 1.1%; for the Refinance Index, up 0.8%. Close to two-thirds (67.3%) of total applications in the latest week were for refinances, just slightly more than the previous week's 67.2%. The percentage of applications that were for adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 4.6% from 5.1% the previous week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages as tracked by the MBA during the week ended March 12 was 4.91%. This was down from 5.01% the previous week, but the MBA noted that a week-to-week increase in average points for this loan type (including the origination fee) to 1.30 from 0.82 left the effective rate unchanged. Somewhat similarly, an increase in average points (including the origination fee) for 15-year FRMs to 1.47 from 0.88 means the effective rate for the borrower actually increased even though the average contract rate for these loans fell to a record low for the second time in the last three weeks. (The average contract 15-year rate was 4.24%, down from 4.32% the previous week.) The average contract rate for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 6.75% from 6.8% with points unchanged at 0.30 (including the origination fee). All average rates and points as stated are for mortgages with 80% loan-to-value ratios.