Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 24, 2007.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 615.2, a decrease of 4.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 641.1 one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5.3 percent compared with the previous week and was up 10.6 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index decreased 4.2 percent to 1729.6 from 1806.3 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.0 percent to 424.0 from 441.5 one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index decreased 6.0 percent to 439.5 from 467.5 the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index decreased 4.5 percent to 890.5 from 932.0 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index increased 0.1 percent to 156.1 from 156.0 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 0.3 percent to 647.9 from 645.8.  The four week moving average is up 0.4 percent to 444.4 from 442.6 for the Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.1 percent to 1836.6 from 1835.3 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 40.4 percent of total applications from 39.9 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 15.0 from 18.6 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.41 percent from 6.49 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 1.48 (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 6.10 from 6.20 percent, with points increasing to 1.19 from 1.10 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 6.51 from 5.84 percent, with points decreasing to 1.00 from 1.05 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

**SPECIAL NOTES**

 
The survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations, 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.

 Angela Waugaman               Carolyn Kemp
(202) 557-2829                 (202) 557-2727
awaugaman@mortgagebankers.org  ckemp@mortgagebankers.org
 

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.