Mortgages down, interest rates up

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 11, 2009, including an adjustment for the Labor Day holiday. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 8.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 18.3% compared with the previous week and decreased 18.7% compared with the same week one year earlier. The Refinance Index, also adjusted for the holiday, decreased 7.4% from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 10.3% to from one week earlier.

The survey also measured interest rates: The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.08% from 5.02%, with points decreasing to 0.98 from 1.23 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.41% from 4.45%, with points decreasing to 1.12 from 1.13 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.61% from 6.69%, with points increasing to 0.20 from 0.19 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.

By: Chris McLaughlin