Friday, March 12th, 2010

Economic Indicators: MBA Weekly Application Survey

October 7th, 2009 at 5:37 am by CB | No Comments

Mortgage Bankers Association (“MBA”) Weekly Application Survey

This survey monitors the number of U.S. citizens that are either applying for a mortgage to buy a house or to refinance their current mortgage. As a result, the MBA Weekly Applications Survey is a leading indicator of single-family home sales, housing construction, and consumer spending. For instance, an increase in mortgage applications for home purchases will probably lead to (1) increased home purchases and (2) increased household goods spending. Meanwhile, an increase in mortgage applications for refinancing generally occurs when the applicant can receive a lower interest rate on his mortgage. Consequently, the applicant will save more money at the lower interest rate and have more money available to spend.

The results of this survey are released every Wednesday at 7:00 am and represents data coverage from the prior week ending on Friday. The MBA Weekly Application Survey covers more than 50% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications and its respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts. To see the full Weekly Application Survey, which includes charts and in-depth information covering 15 indices, you must subscribe. For thoes who want the free version, the MBA issues a press release every week. The MBA Weekly Application Survey press release includes: (1) percentage changes for the Market Composite Index and the Refinance Index; (2) the refinance share of mortgage activity; (3) the adjustable-rate mortgage (“ARM”) share of activity; (4) the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages; (5) the average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages; and (6) the average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs. The press release no longer includes index values.