“Refinance applications continue to increase as mortgage rates have declined to their lowest levels since the beginning of the year,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior director, single family research and economics.

The seasonally-adjusted Refinance Index increased by 17.5 percent to 1970.8 from 1677.5 the previous week and the Purchase Index increased by 7.6 percent to 404.6 from 375.9 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which increased by 11.8 percent to 939.3 from 840 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased 12.9 percent to 124.8 from 110.5 the previous week.
 
The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is up 2.9 percent to 595.1 from 578.2.  The four week moving average increased 0.9 percent to 397.2 from 393.4 for the Purchase Index, while this average is up 5.7 percent to 1748.5 from 1654.5 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 46.7 percent of total applications from 44.3 percent the previous week. This is the highest that the refinance share has been since February 2005. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 27 percent of total applications from 26.4 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.24 percent from 6.18 percent, with points decreasing to 1.03 from 1.06 (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 5.86 percent from 5.81 percent, with points decreasing to 1 from 1.12 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. 

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 5.86 percent from 5.90 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.79 (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.

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 370,000 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 2,400 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.