MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS FALL BY 3.6 PERCENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 25, 2007) - The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 20, 2007.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 609.0, a decrease of 3.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 631.6 one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.5 percent compared with the previous week and was up 13.1 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index decreased 1.4 percent to 1692.9 from 1717.4 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5.0 percent to 424.2 from 446.5 one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index decreased 3.8 percent to 892.1 from 927.2 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index decreased 1.2 percent to 136.9 from 138.6 the previous week.
 
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.4 percent to 621.6 from 624.0.  The four week moving average is down 0.3 percent to 440.5 from 441.6 for the Purchase Index, while this average is down 0.6 percent to 1683.6 from 1693.3 for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 38.5 percent of total applications from 37.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 21.0 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.59 percent from 6.61 percent, with points decreasing to 1.55 from 1.6 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.24 from 6.29 percent, with points increasing to 1.43 from 1.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 5.62 from 5.60 percent, with points increasing to 1.13 from 1.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

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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 500,000 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. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 3,000 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field.