U.S. Mortgage Applications Dip 6.5%, Says MBA

---

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey  for the week ending February 25, mortgage applications decreased 6.5 percent from one week earlier. The results do not include an adjustment for the Presidents' Day holiday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5.5 percent compared with the previous week.  The Refinance Index decreased 6.5 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 6.1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.5 percent compared with the previous week and was 19.6 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 2.5 percent.  The four week moving average is down 2.2 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 2.7 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 64.9 percent of total applications from 65.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.5 percent from 5.6 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.84 percent from 5.00 percent, with points increasing to 1.30 from 0.96 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This is the third consecutive weekly decrease for the 30-year contract rate.  The effective rate also decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.17 percent from 4.28 percent, with points increasing to 1.07 from 0.80 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate also decreased from last week.

---