Mortgage Application Volume Drops 10.9% This Past Week

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(WASHINGTON, DC) -- According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 22, 2010, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 10.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 10.1 percent compared with the previous week and decreased 19.8 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

"Refinance activity fell substantially last week," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics.  "Although rates remain low, there appears to be a smaller pool of borrowers who are willing and able to refinance at today's rates."

The Refinance Index decreased 15.1 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.3 percent from one week earlier.  The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2.8 percent compared with the previous week and was 4.5 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 2.6 percent.  The four week moving average is up 1.3 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 2.8 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 67.6 percent of total applications from 71.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4.7 percent from 4.1 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.02 percent from 5.00 percent, with points decreasing to 1 from 1.05 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.34 percent from 4.33 percent, with points decreasing to 1.14 from 1.19 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 6.84 percent from 6.72 percent, with points increasing to 0.33 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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