WASHINGTON, D.C., October 24, 2007 — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 19, 2007. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 656.5, a slight increase on a seasonally adjusted basis from 656.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 11.2 percent compared with the previous week and was up 11.5 percent compared with the same week one year earlier; these increases are partly due to seasonal effects after the preceding Columbus holiday shortened week.
The Refinance Index increased 4.0 percent to 2059.3 from 1980.9 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.1 percent to 415.9 from 429.1 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index increased 7.7 percent to 398.6 from 370.2 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index increased 0.6 percent to 943.2 from 937.5 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index decreased 4.8 percent to 178.5 from 187.5 the previous week.
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 0.1 percent to 650.4 from 649.8. The four week moving average is down 0.2 percent to 419.2 from 419.9 for the Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.4 percent to 1998.4 from 1990.2 for the Refinance Index.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 47.0 percent of total applications from 45.3 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 14.2 from 13.5 percent of total applications from the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.21 percent from 6.40 percent, with points increasing to 1.13 from 1.04 (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 5.86 from 6.09 percent, with points increasing to 1.06 from 1.03 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.10 from 6.17 percent, with points decreasing to 0.92 from 0.94 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
**SPECIAL NOTES**
The survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.
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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 500,000 people in virtually every community in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation’s residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 3,000 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field. For additional information, visit MBA’s Web site: www.mortgagebankers.org.
