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New mortgage applications for home purchases increased by 11.3 percent according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 28, issued Wednesday. Refinance applications rose 5.1 percent. Interest rates increased for 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgages (FRMs), 15-year FRMs and 1-year Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs).

Average Rates:

30-year FRM: 6.57%, 1.18 points
15-year FRM: 6.19%, 1.18 points
1-year ARM: 6.08%, 0.85 points

Average rates are based on a 80% LTV loan. This means a loan amount no more than 80% of the property value as determined by the lower of the purchase price or appraised value. Typically this means a 20% down payment, though an 80% loan can also be achieved with a second mortgage carried by the seller or a third party lender for the difference between the actual down payment and 20%.

housing market,mortgage rates

Press Release-WeeklyApplicationSurvey
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Title: Mortgage Application Volume Rebounds in Latest Survey
Source: MBA
Date: 5/3/2006
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 3, 2006) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 28. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 596.8, an increase of 8.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 548.6 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 9.6 percent compared with the previous week and was down 15.6 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index increased by 11.3 percent to 433.3 from 389.4 the previous week whereas the Refinance Index increased by 5.1 percent to 1565.6 from 1489.4 one week earlier. The jump in the purchase index follows declines in the application volumes seen around the Easter holiday and is at its highest level since March 31, 2006. Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which increased 8.3 percent to 873.5 from 806.8 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased 14.7 percent to 135.5 from 118.1 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is down 0.7 percent to 573.6 from 577.6. The four week moving average is down 0.3 percent to 412.0 from 413.2 for the Purchase Index, while this average is down 1.2 percent to 1528.4 from 1547.2 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 35.2 percent of total applications from 36.7 percent the previous week, which is the lowest share since June 25, 2004. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 28.3 percent of total applications from 28.2 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.57 percent from 6.53 percent, with points increasing to 1.18 from 1.10 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.19 percent from 6.18 percent, with points increasing to 1.18 from 1.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 6.08 percent from 5.96 percent, with points increasing to 0.85 from 0.82 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.