The Mortgage Bankers' Association compiles various mortgage loan indexes. The purchase applications index measures applications at mortgage lenders. This is a leading indicator for single-family home sales and housing construction. Why Investors Care
| Released on 5/9/07 For wk 5/4 2007 | ||||||||
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Highlights
For the week ending May 4, 2007, the Market Composite Index jumped 3.6 percent to 680.7. The Purchase Index increased by 2.6 percent to 438.3 after increasing 4 percent in the previous week. Favorable mortgage rates are a plus for the housing market. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.1 percent from 6.14 percent, with points increasing to 1.48 from 1.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
Another week of favorable data could lead to hopes that the worst for the housing sector may be over. April data on the housing market will begin unrolling with the NAHB housing market index on Tuesday May 15.
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