ChartManager.loadChart(‘purchaseappschart’, ‘PurchaseMtgAppChart’);

</p

Refinance Index vs 30 Yr Fixed</p

ChartManager.loadChart(‘refiappschart’, ‘RefiMtgAppChart’);

</p

“Mortgagernrates reached their highest point in two years last week. At thesernrates, many fewer homeowners have an incentive to refinance, andrnrefinance application volume declined more than 15 percent. With thisrndecline in volume, the refinance share dropped to its lowest level inrnmore than two years. Purchase application volume also declined, butrnnot nearly to the same extent, as affordability remains strong,”rnsaid Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research andrnEconomics.</p

Averagerncontract and effective interest rates increased for all 80 percentrnloan-to-value ratio loans tracked by MBA. The average contract raternfor 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) with conforming balances ofrn$417,500 or less increased to 4.58 percent, the highest rate sincernJuly 2011, from 4.46 percent. Points, which include the originationrnfee, rose from 0.35 to 0.43. The jumbo version of the 30-year FRM,rnwith balances over $417,500, averaged 4.68 percent, an increase of 16rnbasis points from the previous week. Points increased to 0.38 fromrn0.28.</p

Thirty-yearrnFRM with FHA backing had average rates of 4.27 percent, the highestrnsince September, 2011 with 0.44 points. The previous week the ratesrnhad averaged 4.20 percent with 0.40 point. </p

Thernrate for 15-year Fixed Rate Mortgage increased to 3.64 percent, the highest raternsince July 2011, with 0.44 point compared to 3.55 percent with 0.43rnpoint. </p

Thernaverage contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgagesrn(ARMs) increased to 3.33 percent, the highest rate since July 2011,rnfrom 3.06 percent,with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.39. The ARMrnshare of activity increased to 8 percent of total applications and isrnat its highest level since July 2008. </p

MBA’srnWeekly Mortgage Application Survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S.rnretail residential mortgage applications, and has been conductedrnweekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercialrnbanks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16,rn1990=100.</p

All Content Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Brown House Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.nReproduction in any form without permission of MortgageNewsDaily.com is prohibited.