by Calculated Risk on 8/08/2012 07:00:00 AM

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

The Refinance Index decreased 2 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent from a week earlier.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 3.76 percent from 3.75 percent, with points decreasing to 0.46 from 0.51 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index. The purchase index has been mostly moving sideways over the last two years.

There is no evidence in this index of an increase in purchase applications. However the Fed Senior Loan Officer survey showed the opposite, from Nick Timiraos at the WSJ: Home Prices Climb as Supply Dwindles

The Federal Reserve said Monday demand for mortgages to purchase homes jumped during the second quarter by the largest amount in at least three years, according to a survey of bank lending officers.

The following table is from the Senior Loan Officer survey:


Over half the banks surveyed reported moderately to substantially strong demand for mortgage to purchase homes. It isn't clear why the MBA index and the Fed survey results are different.