The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is attributing last week's 5% drop in mortgage applications and refinance activity to Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath.
The MBA's weekly market composite index decreased 5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Nov. 2. On an unadjusted basis, the index also decreased 5% compared with the previous week.Â
The refinance index also decreased 5% the previous week. The MBA's refinance index has declined for five straight weeks and is at its lowest level since the end of August. The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 80% of total applications from the previous week.
Furthermore, the seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased 5% from one week earlier. The unadjusted purchase index decreased 7% compared with the previous week and was 3% lower than the same week one year ago.
‘Last week's storm had a significant impact on application volumes on the East Coast,’ says Mike Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics. ‘Applications fell more than 60 percent compared to the prior week in New Jersey, almost 50 percent in New York and nearly 40 percent in Connecticut. Other East Coast states also saw declines over the week, while many states in other parts of the country had increases in application volumes.’