Mortgage Apps Hit 5 Month Low

Washington, DC, July 25, 2007--Mortgage loan application volume dropped by 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis for week ending July 20 from the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index.  It was the lowest level hit by the index since the week ended Feb. 16

On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.5% compared with the previous week and was up 13.1% compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index decreased 1.4% to 1692.9 from 1717.4 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5% to 424.2 from 446.5 one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index decreased 3.8% to 892.1 from 927.2 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index decreased 1.2% to 136.9 from 138.6 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.4% to 621.6 from 624.0.  The four week moving average is down 0.3% to 440.5 from 441.6 for the Purchase Index, while this average is down 0.6% to 1683.6 from 1693.3 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 38.5% of total applications from 37.7% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 21% of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.59% from 6.61% with points decreasing to 1.55 from 1.6 (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 6.24 from 6.29%, with points increasing to 1.43 from 1.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.