by Calculated Risk on 7/09/2014 07:01:00 AM

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

Mortgage applications increased 1.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 4, 2014. This week’s result included an adjustment for the July 4th holiday. ...

The Refinance Index increased 0.4 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 4 percent from one week earlier. ...
...
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.32 percent from 4.28 percent, with points increasing to 0.16 from 0.14 (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 down 75% from the levels in May 2013.

As expected, refinance activity is very low this year.


The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.  

According to the MBA, the unadjusted purchase index is down about 10% from a year ago.

Note: Mortgage rates were around 4.75% this time last year, and are down about 50 bps year-over-year.