Refinancing Leads Jump In Mortgage Applications In Latest MBA Weekly Survey

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 16, 2008) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 11, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 906.4, an increase of 28.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 706.0 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 64.8 percent compared with the previous week which was shortened by the New Year’s holiday and was up 39.0 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index increased 43.4 percent to 3575.5 from 2494.2 the previous week which was shortened by the New Year’s holiday, and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 11.4 percent to 461.2 from 414.0 one week earlier.

The Conventional Purchase Index increased 10.5 percent while the Government Purchase Index (largely FHA) jumped 17.6 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index increased 45.2 percent to 365.7 from 251.8 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index increased 28.6 percent to 1305.5 from 1015.3 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index increased 26.7 percent to 241.2 from 190.4 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 10.1 percent to 687.5 from 624.4. The four week moving average is up 2.5 percent to 407.6 from 397.9 for the Purchase Index, while this average is up 18.2 percent to 2401.5 from 2031.0 for the Refinance Index. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 62.7 percent of total applications from 57.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 9.2 from 9.3 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.62 percent from 5.73 percent, with points decreasing to 0.94 from 1.10 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.07 percent from 5.21 percent, with points decreasing to 1.09 from 1.18 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 5.77 percent from 6.04 percent, with points increasing to 1.00 from 0.99 (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.