Florida Mortgage Loan Applications Decline to Lowest Levels This Year

Florida mortgage applications fell to their lowest levels this year after a decline of more than 5 percent last week.

The drop in applications was a bit of a surprise in light of low mortgage rates prevailing throughout the Sunshine State.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, in its seasonally adjusted index of home mortgage application activity, which includes home purchase loans and Florida mortgage refinancing transactions, fell by 5.2 percent to 606.6 for the week concluding on February 16.

Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 6.19 percent, down 0.05 points from the previous week. Florida mortgage rates remained slightly below year-ago levels of 6.22 percent.

The MBA’s seasonally adjusted purchase index fell 4.8 percent to 381.4, its lowest since the week ended October 27, 2006, when it stood at 375.6. The index was also markedly below its year-ago levels of 408.7.

The purchase index is considered a timely gauge of home sales, which have continued to slump through 2006 and into 2007 after five straight record-shattering years.

The index of Florida mortgage refinance applications slid 5.4 percent to 1,921.1. A year earlier the index stood at 1,571.4. The refinance share of applications decreased to 44.9 percent from 46.1 percent.

Fixed 15-year mortgage rates, a very popular choice for refinancing a Florida home loan, averaged 5.88 percent, down from 5.94 percent.

Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, increased slightly to 5.81 percent from 5.80 percent. The ARM share of overall mortgage application activity stayed unchanged over the last seven days at 21.2 percent.