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Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed</p

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“Mortgage rates were little changedrnlast week, but remain roughly one percentage point higher than theyrnwere three months ago,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s VicernPresident of Research and Economics.  “Refinance applicationrnvolume continues to decline, with the refinance index now more thanrn55 percent lower than its recent peak, reaching the lowest level inrnover two years. Applications for home purchases dropped for thernfourth time in five weeks, but purchase volume is running about 5rnpercent higher than last year at this time.”

As Fratantonirnsaid, there was little movement in mortgage rates and the directionrnof those changes was mixed. The average contract interest rate forrn30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming loan balancesrn($417,500 or less) was unchanged at 4.58 percent,with pointsrndecreasing to 0.38 from 0.40. The effective rate increased.

Therncontract interest rate for 30-year FRM with jumbo loan balancesrn(greater than $417,500) decreased to 4.64 percent with 0.39 pointrnfrom 4.66 percent,with 0.41 point. The effective rate decreased fromrnlast week.

The contract rate for FHA-backed 30-year FRMrnincreased to 4.30 percent from 4.28 percent and points decreased torn0.31 from 0.33. The effective rate increased from last week.

Thernaverage contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgagesrnincreased 4 basis points to 3.67 percent with points increasing torn0.40 from 0.35. The effective rate increased from lastrnweek.

Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) had a 6 percent sharernof applications during the week, down from 7 percent the week before,rn The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 3.39rnpercent from 3.30 percent,with points increasing to 0.36 from 0.34rnand the effective rate increased. </p

Allrncontract and effective rate quotes are based on loans with an 80rnpercent loan-to-value ratio. Points include the originationrnfee.

MBA’s Weekly Application Survey from which the foregoingrninformation is derived covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retailrnresidential mortgage applications, and has been conducted since 1990.rnRespondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.rnBase period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

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