by Calculated Risk on 2/15/2006 10:47:00 AM

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that mortgage applications declined for the week ending Feb 10th.

Click on graph for larger image.

The Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume was 574.1 – a decrease of 7.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 619.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 4.4 percent compared with the previous week and was down 21.7 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 7.9 percent to 391.7 from 425.1 the previous week, whereas the Refinance Index decreased by 6.5 percent to 1636.7 from 1751.0 one week earlier.

Mortgage rates were steady:

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages remained at 6.25 percent ...

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 5.52 percent from 5.48 percent...

Activity continues to fall and mortgage rates are expected to rise again this week. The unadjusted Purchase Index is 401.9, off from 437.2 for the same week last year.