Federal Reserve's announcement spurs refi activity in latest MBA Weekly SurveyMortgagePress.comMBA, Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, Market Composite Index, refis
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has released its Weekly
Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 20, 2009.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application
volume, was 1159.4, an increase of 32.2 percent on a seasonally
adjusted basis from 876.9 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis,
the Index increased 31.4 percent compared with the previous week
and 18.0 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.
"Mortgage rates fell sharply to low levels not seen in six
decades following the Federal Reserve's announcement on the
Treasury bond and mortgage-backed securities purchase programs. The
drop offered a sizable refinance incentive for most homeowners
sparking a pickup in refinance activity," said Orawin Velz,
associate vice president of economic forecasting.
The Refinance Index increased 41.5 percent to 6363.2 from 4497.6
the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index
increased 4.2 percent to 267.8 from 257.1 one week earlier. The
Conventional Purchase Index increased 3.9 percent while the
Government Purchase Index (largely FHA) increased 4.6 percent.
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market
Index is up 13.9 percent. The four week moving average is up 1.7
percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this
average is up 18.7 percent for the Refinance Index.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 78.5
percent of total applications from 72.9 percent the previous week.
The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to
1.4 percent from 2.0 percent of total applications from the
previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate
mortgages decreased to 4.63 percent from 4.89 percent, with points
decreasing to 1.13 from 1.23 (including the origination fee) for 80
percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The contract rate is the
lowest in the history of the survey, which began in 1990.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate
mortgages decreased to 4.48 percent from 4.52 percent, with points
decreasing to 1.07 from 1.18 (including the origination fee) for 80
percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased
to 6.22 percent from 6.20 percent, with points increasing to 0.15
from 0.14 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV
loans.
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. For more information, visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
