Mortgage loan applications increasing, weekly survey says

The Market Composite Index of mortgage loan applications a measure of mortgage loan applications for purchases and refinancings for the week ending Nov. 15 increased 21 percent to 1,200.2 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 922.3 the previous week, according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, which was released Nov. 20.

On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 20.3 percent and was up 22 percent compared to the same week a year earlier.

The MBA seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased to 345 from 333.3 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index increased to 6,174.1 from 4,825.6 the previous week. It marked the 17th consecutive week that the Refinance Index has been above 4,000. Other seasonally adjusted index activity included the Conventional Index, which increased to 1,735.1 from 1,428 the previous week. The Government Index increased to 307.4 from 265.4 the previous week.

Refinancing activity represented 77.6 percent of total applications, increasing from 73 percent the previous week. The share of adjustable rate mortgage activity decreased to 11.9 percent from 13.3 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed rate mortgages increased to 5.94 percent from 5.74 percent the previous week, with points decreasing to 1.44 from 1.52 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.39 percent from 5.17 percent the previous week, with points decreasing to 1.30 from 1.42 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 1-year ARMs was 3.92 percent, increasing from 3.87 percent the previous week, with points decreasing to 0.97 from 1.12 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.