by Calculated Risk on 10/02/2013 07:01:00 AM

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

Mortgage applications decreased 0.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 27, 2013. ...

The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 6 percent from one week earlier.
...
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.49 percent, the lowest rate since June 2013, from 4.62 percent, with points decreasing to 0.34 from 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.


The first graph shows the refinance index.

The refinance index is up sharply over the last three weeks as rates have declined.

However the index is still down 63% from the levels in early May.


The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.  

The 4-week average of the purchase index has fallen since early May, and the 4-week average of the purchase index is only up 1.4% from a year ago.