The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)
announced that loan applications dropped 0.2 percent from last week, according to its Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending on Nov. 27.  The results included an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday; on an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 32 percent compared with the previous week.

The FHA share of total applications decreased from 13.7 percent to 13.2 percent, the VA share of total applications increased from 11.0 percent to 11.3 percent and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.7 percent.

The MBA reported the following on mortgage rates:

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased from 4.14 percent to 4.12 percent, with points increasing from 0.49 to 0.50 for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased from 3.39 percent to 3.36 percent, with points increasing from 0.43 to 0.44 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased from 3.19 percent to 3.11 percent, with points increasing from 0.38 to 0.44 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased from 3.87 percent to 3.89 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.49 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances remained unchanged at 3.99 percent, with points increasing from 0.30 to 0.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 8 percent from the previous week. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 28 percent compared with the previous week and was 30 percent higher than the same week one year ago.