Mortgage News

U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications Index Fell 1.8 Percent Last Week2009-10-14 11:00:03.0 GMTBy Courtney Schlisserman Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Mortgage applications in the U.S. fell last week from the highest level in four months as borrowing costs increased. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to purchase a home or refinance a loan declined by 1.8 percent to 742.9 in the week ended Oct. 9 from 756.3 a week earlier.The group’s gauge of purchases dropped 5 percent and its measure of refinancing decreased 0.1 percent. The index has jumped 52 percent over the last year as government efforts to bring down interest rates and on unclog credit have contributed to gains in sales. Economists are counting on stabilization in housing to help the economy recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. “We’ve seen bottom overall in terms of residential construction and home sales,” Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida, said before the report. “It’s going to be a long road back though.” The mortgage bankers’ purchase index decreased to 290.9 from 306.1 last week, the highest level since January, today’s report showed. The refinancing gauge fell to 3,374.6 from 3,377.1, the highest level since May. The share of applicants seeking to refinance loans rose to 67.4 percent of all applications from 66.3 percent.To contact the reporter on this story:Courtney Schlisserman in Washington at +1-202-624-1943 or cschlisserma@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: