Dropping Mortgage Applications and Rising Interest Rates so Far in October 2009
According to the results of the survey, the Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, decreased 13.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ending October 16, which represents significant reduction compared to the week of October 9 when the index decreased by only 1.8%. The largest drop in mortgage application activity in the week of October 16 was registered in the refinancing segment as the respective seasonally adjusted index decreased 16.8%. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased only 7.6%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in the week of October 16 increased to 5.07% from 5.02% the week before and from 4.89% two weeks before. Similarly, the average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.51% from 4.44% a week before and from 4.32% two weeks before.
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