Mortgage activity decreases, MBA finds

Fewer people applied for mortgage loans last week despite the fact that interest rates were at near record low levels, the Mortgage Bankers Association said today. The trade group’s Market Composite index, which reflects loan application volume, fell 4.5 percent from the week earlier, and refinancings made up a smaller share — 71.7 percent — of that total volume. During the previous week, refinancings accounted for 74.6 percent of all mortgage activity, though the MBA said that number was slightly distorted by one survey participant that later revised its submissions. Adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, comprised 5.3 percent of mortgage loan volume, up from 5.1 percent during the week before. TRD