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Mortgage Applications Plunge

Drop coincides with sharp rise in rates

July 1, 2009
More consumers flocking to apply for new mortgages would be good news for the economy. Unfortunately, just the opposite is occurring.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 26, 2009, the number of people applying for a mortgage has dropped significantly.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 444.8, a decrease of 18.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 548.2 one week earlier.

On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 18.5 percent compared with the previous week and decreased 7.4 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index decreased 30.0 percent to 1482.2 from 2116.3 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.5 percent to 267.7 from 280.3 one week earlier. The Refinance Index is at its lowest level since November 2008.

President Obama had urged homeowners to refinance their present mortgages, to take advantage of lower rates and save money each month. But rates have starting rising again, making a refi today look less attractive than a month ago.

The other reason applications fell was the lack of new buyers in the housing market, despite home prices that continue to fall. Both trends are reflected in the MBA's numbers.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 9.2 percent. The four week moving average is unchanged for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 15.2 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 46.4 percent of total applications from 54.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.34 percent from 5.44 percent, with points increasing to 1.12 from 0.99 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.81 percent from 4.93 percent, with points increasing to 1.04 from 0.92 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.52 percent from 6.54 percent, with points increasing to 0.13 from 0.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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