The Refinance Index increased 2.6 percent to 1929.6 from 1881.1 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3.9 percent to 464.9 from 447.4 one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index increased 2.8 percent to 500.4 from 486.9 the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index increased 3.1 percent to 987.9 from 958.5 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index increased 6.7 percent to 163.2 from 152.9 the previous week.

“Recent upheavals in the mortgage industry may be temporarily increasing the level of retail application activity at the large lenders that participate in the MBA survey rather than representing a system-wide increase,” said Doug Duncan, MBA’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research and Business Development.
 
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.9 percent to 637.8 from 626.0.  The four week moving average is up 1.1 percent to 438.3 from 433.7 for the Purchase Index, while this average is up 3.0 percent to 1806.9 from 1753.9 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 39.9 percent of total applications. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 21.0 from 22.5 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.45 percent from 6.41 percent, with points decreasing to 1.54 from 1.62 (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 from 6.16 percent, with points decreasing to 1.16 from 1.18 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 5.81 from 5.69 percent, with points increasing to 1.11 from 1.09 (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 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 2,400 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.