by Calculated Risk on 4/26/2006 09:44:00 AM

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports: Mortgage Application Volume Down


Click on graph for larger image.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 548.6, a decrease of 3.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 569.6 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.2 percent compared with the previous week and was down 22.4 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. There were no holiday adjustments made for the Easter holiday.

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 4.4 percent to 389.4 from 407.4 the previous week whereas the Refinance Index decreased by 2.4 percent to 1489.4 from 1526.1 one week earlier.

Mortgage rates were steady:

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.53 percent from 6.56 percent ...

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 5.96 percent from 6.00 percent ...

Change in mortgage applications from one year ago (from Dow Jones):

Total	-22.4%
Purchase	-19.1%
Refi	-27.4%
Fixed-Rate	-14.7%
ARM	-36.9%

Purchase activity is off 22.4% from last year. This is a significant decline from last year and provides further evidence that housing is slowing.