by Calculated Risk on 9/05/2012 07:01:00 AM

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

The Refinance Index decreased 3 percent from the previous week to the lowest level since May 2012. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.8 percent from one week earlier.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) decreased to 3.78 percent from 3.80 percent, with points decreasing to 0.37 from 0.42 (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.