U.S. MBA's Mortgage Applications Index Declined 14.2% Last Week

Mortgage applications in the U.S.
last hebdomad dropped to the last degree in almost four months, hurt
by fewer purchases and less refinancing.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's of applications to
buy a place or refinance a loan declined 14.2 percentage to 637.6,
the last since the hebdomad ended Dec. 28, from 743.4 the prior
week. The group's index drop 6.4 percentage last hebdomad and
its gage decreased 20.2 percent.

Homebuyers are waiting for terms to drop additional and banks
have made it harder to measure up for funding after a rush in
subprime mortgage defaults and foreclosures. Bloated inventories
signal a lodging slack in its 3rd twelvemonth will stay a retarding force on
the economy, reinforcing concern about a recession.

''We're expecting additional driblets before the marketplace turns
around,'' said Saint Patrick Newport, an economic expert at Global Insight
Inc. inch Lexington, Massachusetts. ''The drivers just aren't
there: The economic system is losing jobs, recognition is very tight and
prices are falling in more than places.''

The mortgage bankers' purchase index declined to 357.3 last
week, from 381.6 the former hebdomad and the last since the week
of March 28.

The refinancing gage drop to 2,286.3, the last level
since December, from 2,866. The share of applications for
refinancing dropped to 49.2 percentage from 53.5 percent.

Other studies bear out the failing in housing. drop 2 percentage in March, the seventh
decline in eight months, the National Association of Realtors
said yesterday.

Prices Falling

The government's Office of Federal Soldier Housing Enterprise
Oversight yesterday said gross sales terms slid 2.4 percentage in
February from a twelvemonth earlier.

Residential building is ''generally anemic,'' the
Federal Modesty said last hebdomad in its regional concern survey,
known as the Beige Book. Federal President Ben S. Bernanke this month
conceded that a recession is possible, as housing, employment and
consumer disbursement deteriorate.

Today's study showed the norm on a 30-year fixed
loan jumped to 6.04 percentage last week, the peak in six weeks,
from 5.74 percentage the former week. At the current rate, monthly
borrowing costs for each $100,000 of a loan would be $602, or $6
less than a twelvemonth ago.

The norm charge per unit on a 15-year fixed mortgage increased to
5.6 percentage from 5.27 percent. The on a one-year adjustable
mortgage drop to 6.93 percent, from 7.02 percent.

The Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association's loan
survey, compiled every hebdomad since 1990, covers about one-half of all
U.S. retail residential mortgage originations.

Housing-related mercantiles go on to struggle. USG Corp.,
North America's biggest shaper of gypsum wallboard, yesterday
posted its 2nd sequent quarterly loss as gross sales drop and
the company took one-time costs to cut workers and stopping point plants.

''The recession in the lodging marketplace goes on to have got a
significant impact on our fiscal results,'' Head Executive
Officer William Foote said in a statement.

To reach the newsman on this story:
Shobhana Chandra in American Capital at