More Stats on Housing

Mortgage applications decreased 4.5% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 17, 2012. The Refinance Index decreased 4.8% from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 2.9% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 1.4 percent compared with the previous week and was 9.2 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.30%. The four week moving average is down 3.21% for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.33% for the Refinance Index. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 80.1% of total applications from 81.1% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.3% from 5.4% of total applications from the previous week.