Weekly Mortgage Application Volume Declines 4%

Weekly Mortgage Application Volume Declines 4%

March was a good month for the mortgage market with application volume growing for four straight weeks, but as the month ended, so did the winning streak. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 31. On an unadjusted basis, the Index was down by 4 percent compared with the previous week.  The Refinance Index fell 5 percent from the previous week and was 59 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 28.6 percent of total applications from 29.1 percent. [refiappschart] The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent and was 3 percent lower before adjustmen