Mortgage application volume falls for sixth week in a row

Mortgage application volume continues sliding

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 19, 2013, mortgage application volume fell 1.2 percent compared to the week prior, marking the sixth consecutive week of sliding application levels.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, falling only 1.0 percent on an unadjusted basis

The Refinance Index decreased 1.0 percent for the week, which the MBA blames on a 12.0 percent drop in the Government Refinance index while the Conventional Refinance index rose by 2.0 percent. The Refinance Index is at the lowest level since July 2011, accounting for only 63 percent of total applications after averaging 80 percent for most of 2012.

The seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2.0 percent from one week earlier, but is actually 6.0 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

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Average contract rates

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) decreased to 4.58 percent from 4.68 percent, with points decreasing to 0.40 from 0.42 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) decreased to 4.66 percent from 4.81 percent, with points increasing to 0.41 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 4.28 percent from 4.38 percent, with points increasing to 0.33 from 0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.63 percent from 3.70 percent, with points decreasing to 0.35 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.30 percent from 3.39 percent, with points decreasing to 0.34 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.