Mortgage index off again
Published May 1, 2008 by CSBJ Staff
The Mortgage Bankers Association weekly report of residential retail mortgage originations exhibited few surprises.
Total mortgage applications were down 11.1 percent for the week ending April 25. In addition, the MBA’s application index, tied to a baseline established during 1990, dropped to 567 from 637.6 the previous week. The 567 index means mortgage application activity is 5.67 times higher than it was when the MBA began tracking the data.
The industry’s weekly index peaked during May 2003 when it reached 1,856.7
Last week’s refinancing volume fell 16.7 percent, while new purchase applications dropped by 4.8 percent. Refinance applications accounted for 45.7 percent of total application volume.
Forbes.com said the latest MBA report was especially unsettling because the drop in volume came despite a drop in interest rates. The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.01 percent, down from 6.04 percent for the previous week.
Filed under CSBJ Daily