Talking Points …
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 11, 2013, indicates the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week and was 1 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
- The impact of the government shutdown is apparent in the results of the MBA survey, as Purchase applications for government programs dropped by more than 7 percent over the week to their lowest level since December 2007.
- The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.46 percent from 4.42 percent.