MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest Surv

Washington, DC, April 25, 2007--The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 20, 2007.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 653.3, an increase of 3.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 630.6 one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4.1 percent compared with the previous week and was up 18.2 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index increased 3.6 percent to 2081.6 from 2008.4 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3.7 percent to 411 from 396.5 one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index increased 3.5 percent to 964.1 from 931.3 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index increased 4.5 percent to 135.1 from 129.3 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.7 percent to 645 from 649.4.  The four week moving average is down slightly to 406 from 406.1 for the Purchase Index, while this average is down 1.4 percent to 2050.8 from 2079.8 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 43.4 percent of total applications from 43.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 18.3 from 18.1 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.13 percent from 6.22 percent, with points increasing to 1.32 from 1.22 (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 5.82 from 5.92 percent, with points increasing to 1.27 from 1.18 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 5.79 from 5.89 percent, with points increasing to 0.73 from 0.7 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.