Mortgage Application Volume Rebounds After Thanksgiving Week

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 7, 2005) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 2. The Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume was 656.7 -- an increase of 5.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 624.1, one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 46.8 percent compared with the previous week but was down 6.1 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index increased by 4.0 percent to 495.1 from 476.2 the previous week whereas the Refinance Index increased by 7.0 percent to 1596.4 from 1484.3 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which increased 5.1 percent to 981.8 from 933.8 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased 6.6 percent to 114.0 from 106.9 the previous week.

The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is down 0.2 percent to 643.5 from 644.6. The four week moving average is up 1.6 percent to 480.4 from 473.0 for the Purchase Index while this average is down 3.1 percent to 1591.8 from 1642.4 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 41.0 percent of total applications from 39.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 33.1 percent of total applications from 33.0 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.32 percent from 6.20 percent on week earlier, with points increasing to 1.30 from 1.17 (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 5.84 percent from 5.72 percent, with points increasing to 1.37 from 1.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 5.49 percent from 5.39 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 0.91 from 0.96 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

**SPECIAL NOTES**

The survey covers approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 500,000 people in virtually every community in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation`s residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 3,000 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field. For additional information, visit MBA`s Web site: www.mortgagebankers.org.

Contact Information

Susan Besaw

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)

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