Applications Fall 5% during Holiday Shortened Week

Mortgage applications were down duringrnthe week ended January 20 according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Surveyrnconducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).  The Market Composite Index, a measure ofrnapplication volume fell 5 percent on a basis that was adjusted seasonally andrnto account for the week shortened by the Martin Luther King holiday.  On a non-seasonally adjusted basis thernComposite fell 13.8 percent from the previous week which ended January 13. </p

Thernseasonally adjusted Purchase Index was down 5.4 percent and the unadjustedrnPurchase Index 9.7 percent.  The latterrnwas 6.5 percent lower than during the same week in 2011.  The index measuring applications forrnrefinancing was down 5.2 percent.  </p

Thernfour week moving averages for all indices remained positive.  The Composite Index was up 4.12 percent, thernRefinance Index increased 4.85 percent and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Indexrnrose 0.47 percent.</p

Refinancingrncontinued to represent the majority of mortgage activity, falling slightly fromrn82.2 percent of all applications the previous week to 81.3 percent.  Applications for adjustable rate mortgagesrnwere at a 5.3 percent level compared to 5.6 percent a week earlier.  </p

Lookingrnback at the month of December, MBA found that refinancing borrowers applied forrn30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) in 56.6 percent of cases and 24.3 percent ofrnapplications were for a 15-year FRM.   ARMs represented 5.3 percent of applications inrnDecember.  Thernshare of refinance applications for “other” fixed-rate mortgages withrnamortization schedules other than a 15 or a 30-year term was 13.8 percent ofrnall refinance applications. </p

Purchase Index vs 30 Yr Fixed</b</p