by Calculated Risk on 9/18/2013 07:02:00 AM

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Mortgage applications increased 11.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 13, 2013. The previous week’s results included an adjustment for the Labor Day holiday. ...

The Refinance Index increased 18 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent from one week earlier and is close to the same level as two weeks ago, before the holiday.
...
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.75 percent from 4.80 percent, with points decreasing to 0.39 from 0.46 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows the refinance index.

The refinance index bounced around the last two weeks due to the holiday week.

But the key is the refinance index is down 65% since early May, we will probably see the refinance index back to 2000 levels soon.

The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.  

The 4-week average of the purchase index was generally been trending up over the last year (but down over the last few months), and the 4-week average of the purchase index is up about 3% from a year ago.