Mortgage Applications Down 2% in February’s First Week

Mortgage application volume saw their first notable decline of the year last week, according to the ""Mortgage Bankers Association's"":http://mba.org/default.htm (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

MBA's Market Composite Index, a measure of loan application volume, fell 2.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending February 7, the group reported. On an unadjusted basis, the Index rose 0.3 percent.

Refinances declined a scant 0.2 percent week-over-week, with the refinance share of total mortgage applications remaining flat at 62 percent.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index experienced a more pronounced drop, falling 5 percent from the week prior. Unadjusted, the Index decreased 1 percent, ending up 13 percent lower than the same week last year.

Meanwhile, MBA's average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.45 percent last week, down slightly from 4.47 percent. At the same time, points increased to 0.34 from 0.25 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value loans, bringing the effective rate up.