Purchase index hangs in there, but refi market continues to get crushed, even with a downtick in mortgage rates.
WASHINGTON , D.C. ( December 10, 2003 ) – The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 5. The Market Composite Index of mortgage loan applications—a measure of mortgage loan applications for purchases and refinancings—decreased by 12.2 percent to 601.6 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 685.1 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased by 22.3 percent compared with last week and was down 33.6 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.
The MBA seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 9.5 percent to 399.8 from 441.8 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index decreased by 15.5 percent to 1775.5 from 2100.0 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity included the Conventional Index, which decreased 11.9 percent to 828.1 from 940.1 the previous week. The Government Index decreased 13.9 percent to 223.6 from 259.6 the previous week.
"The drop in refinancings as a share of total loan originations is bringing to light the desire of many homebuyers to look at adjustable rate and hybrid loan products, those where the rate is fixed for 3 to 7 years, as an alternative to traditional fixed rate financing, particularly as short-term rates remain so low," said Jay Brinkmann, MBA vice president of research and economics.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 49.4 percent of total applications, from 50.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 29.3 percent from 26.6 percent the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.76 percent from 5.93 percent one week earlier , with points decreasing to 1.38 from 1.45 the previous week (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 5.10 percent from 5.24 percent one week earlier , with points decreasing to 1.39 from 1.45 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 3.57 percent from 3.63 percent one week earlier , with points increasing to 1.14 from 1.07 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. |
