"Since the survey covered the week after the Easter weekend, it is likely that home sales were a little lower, and thus, possibly impacted purchase applications last week.” said Vincent Varma, Director of Industry Surveys at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Refinance Index decreased 0.3 percent to 2008.4 from 2015 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.2 percent to 396.5 from 413.8 one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index decreased 2.3 percent to 931.3 from 953.5 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index decreased 4.1 percent to 129.3 from 134.8 the previous week.
 
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 1.6 percent to 649.4 from 659.8.  The four week moving average is down 0.9 percent to 406.1 from 409.6 for the Purchase Index, while this average is down 2.3 percent to 2079.8 from 2129.9 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 43.6 percent of total applications from 42.8 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 18.1 from 18.7 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.22 percent from 6.16 percent, with points decreasing to 1.22 from 1.39 (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 5.92 from 5.91 percent, with points increasing to 1.18 from 1.15 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 5.89 from 5.88 percent, with points decreasing to 0.7 from 0.75 (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 280,000 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 2,200 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.