by Calculated Risk on 1/05/2011 07:20:00 AM

The MBA reports: Mortgage Applications Drop the Week Before Christmas and Increase the Week After

For the week ending December 24, 2010, the Refinance Index decreased 7.2 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3.1 percent from one week earlier. The following week, the Refinance Index increased 3.9 percent and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.8 percent.
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For the week ending December 31, 2010, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.82 percent with points increasing to 1.11.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

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

The four-week moving average of the purchase index is at about the levels of 1997 - and about 17% below the levels of April this year - suggesting weak existing home sales through the first couple months of 2011.