by Calculated Risk on 11/24/2010 07:34:00 AM

The MBA reports: Mortgage Purchase Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

The Refinance Index decreased 1.0 percent from the previous week and is the lowest Refinance Index observed since the end of June. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 14.4 percent from one week earlier, which included Veterans Day. No adjustment was made for the holiday.
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The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.50 percent from 4.46 percent, with points decreasing to 0.88 from 1.12 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This is the highest 30-year fixed rate observed in the survey since the week ending September 3, 2010.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the MBA Purchase Index and four week moving average since 1990.

Even with the increase in applications (seasonally adjusted), the four-week moving average of the purchase index is about 22% below the levels of April 2010.