The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 15, 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 10.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index also decreased 10.5 percent compared with the previous week. This week’s results do not include an adjustment for the Columbus Day holiday.

The Refinance Index decreased 11.2 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 6.7 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 6.6 percent compared with the previous week and was 29.4 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 0.4 percent. The four week moving average is down 1.1 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.7 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 82.4 percent of total applications from 83.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.8 percent from 5.4 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.34 percent from 4.21 percent, with points decreasing to 0.81 from 1.02 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. This is the first increase in the 30-year contract rate in six weeks. The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.74 percent from 3.62 percent, with points decreasing to 1.00 from 1.06 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. This is the first increase in the 15-year contract rate in six weeks. The effective rate also increased from last week.

The survey covers over 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, 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.