Mortgage Applications Decrease 2.1 Percent In Latest Survey

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 13, 2008) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 8, 2008.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 1063.5, a decrease of 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1086.6 one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 0.4 percent compared with the previous week and was up 65 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index decreased 3.0 percent to 4901.5 from 5054.0 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.3 percent to 403.9 from 405.3 one week earlier.  The Conventional Purchase Index increased 0.3 percent while the Government Purchase Index (largely FHA) decreased 3.5 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index increased 5.4 percent to 407.4 from 386.5 the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index decreased 1.9 percent to 1522.6 from 1552.6 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index decreased 3.7 percent to 297.9 from 309.5 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 3.9 percent to 1046.6 from 1007.4.  The four week moving average is down 3.4 percent to 402.8 from 417.1 for the Purchase Index, while this average is up 7.4 percent to 4809.3 from 4477.8 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 67.4 percent of total applications from 69.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 9.9 from 8.8 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.72 percent from 5.61 percent, with points increasing to 1.15 from 0.98 (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 5.18 percent from 5.09 percent, with points increasing to 1.08 from 0.92 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 5.72 percent from 5.62 percent, with points decreasing to 0.90 from 0.97 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

SPECIAL NOTES

The survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990.  Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.  Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 500,000 people in virtually every community in the country.  Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation’s residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 3,000 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field. For additional information, visit MBA’s Web site: www.mortgagebankers.org.

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