The Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index, which measuresmortgage application volume, fell 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis fromone week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 11% comparedwith the previous week, largely due to the Memorial Day holiday.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.4% from the prior week;unadjsted, it was down 15.2% compared with the previous week but was 9.0%higher than the same week a year earlier. The adjusted Refinance Indexincreased 1.3% from the previous week. That index is not seasonally adjustedbut is adjusted for the holiday.
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index was up1.0%. The four week moving average was down 1.6% for the seasonally adjustedPurchase Index and up 2.1% for the Refinance Index.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 67.3% from 65.7%percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share ofactivity decreased to 6.1% from 6.2%.
The average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.54% from4.58%, with points decreasing to 0.95 from 1.00. The rate for 15-yearfixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.67% from 3.78%, with points decreasingto 1.06 from 1.07.
In a research note, David Goldberg at UBS wrote, "The decline this week is consistent with our recent channel checks, which suggest that conditions haven't improved meaningfully as of late. As such, we remain cautious in the near term."
