Mortgage Bankers Association for the week of 3/24/2010

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) decreased 4.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.9 percent compared with the previous week.

Refinance Index: decreased 7.1 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.7 percent from one week earlier.

Purchase Index: Increased 2.8 percent compared with the previous week and was 15.0 percent lower than the same week one year ago. .

Refinance Share of Mortgage Activity: decreased 7.1 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.7 percent from one week earlier.

Arm Share: increased to 4.8 percent from 4.6 percent of total applications from the previous week.

MBA outlook: (Excerpted from mbaa.org)

The most recent data on the housing market continues to show profound weakness . The employment data in February was somewhat better than anticipated, showing a steadying unemployment rate and fewer job losses.

The outlook for residential investment is clouded. Home sales increased sharply last fall but since have declined sharply, and the pending home sales index indicates further declines are to be expected

The housing industry faces another challenge during the spring building season stemming from the end on March 31 of the Federal Reserves program of buying mortgage-backed securities. The impact on mortgage interest rates that follows is not expected to be dramatic, but it will certainly act as a damper on home buying. The inventory of unsold homes has declined but remains well above normal levels, and will likely remain relatively high given pending foreclosures

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