The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a decrease of 3.3% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending March 30. Mortgage loan rates fell last week on three of five loan types that the MBA tracks and remained unchanged on two others.

On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 3% week over week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index slipped by 2% compared with the week ended March 30. The unadjusted purchase index decreased by 2% for the week and is now 5% higher year over year.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 5% week over week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing rose week over week from 39.4% to 38.5%, its lowest level since September 2008.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 6.5% of all applications, down from 7% in the prior week.

Mortgage loan rates began the month of April near two-month lows, and Monday’s collapse in equities did not have much impact on bond prices that had been driven lower as demand for the safety of bonds increased. The most prevalent 30-year fixed-rate on Tuesday was 4.49%.

According to the MBA, last week’s average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remained unchanged at 4.69%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 4.60% to 4.56%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged at 4.09%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan decreased from 3.92% to 3.87%. Rates on a 30-year FHA-backed fixed-rate loan ticked down from 4.75% to 4.74%.

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