Mortgage applications increased 4.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Jan. 6, 2012. The results include an adjustment to account for the New Year's Day holiday. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 4.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 34.4 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 3.3 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 8.1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 41.9 percent compared with the previous week and was 17.9 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.53 percent. The four week moving average is down 1.92 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 0.09 percent for the Refinance Index.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 80.8 percent of total applications from last week's survey high of 81.9 percent. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.4 percent from 4.7 percent of total applications from the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 4.11 percent from 4.07 percent, with points decreasing to 0.41 from 0.53 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The effective rate also increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) decreased to 4.34 percent from 4.41 percent, with points increasing to 0.47 from 0.44 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTVs. The effective rate also decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA remained unchanged at 3.96 percent, with points increasing to 0.72 from 0.71 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTVs. The effective rate also remained unchanged from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.40 percent from 3.37 percent, with points decreasing to 0.37 from 0.50 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTVs. The effective rate also decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 2.90 percent from 2.91 percent, with points increasing to 0.49 from 0.48 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTVs. The effective rate also decreased from last week.
