rtgage Bankers Association (MBA) has released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 4. According to the MBA, its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 12.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. This week's results include an adjustment to account for the Memorial Day holiday. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 21.1% compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 14.3% from the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5.7% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 16.3% compared with the previous week and was 30.4% lower than Memorial Day week last year. ‘Purchase applications are now 35 percent below their level of four weeks ago, as home buyers have not yet returned to the market following the expiration of the home buyer tax credit at the end of April," says Michael Fratantoni, the MBA's vice president of research and economics. "Although rates remained essentially flat, refinance applications dropped this past week for the first time in a month. Despite the historically low rates, many homeowners have already refinanced recently, remain underwater on their mortgages, have uncertain job situations or have damaged credit following this downturn and, therefore, may not qualify to refinance." The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 72.2% of total applications from 73.8% the previous week. This is the first decline in the refinance share in five weeks. SOURCE: [link=http://mortgagebankers.org/NewsandMedia/PressCenter/73065.htm]Mortgage Bankers Association