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The Mortgage Bankers Association announced this morning that the number of Americans applying for a mortgage to purchase a home or refinance their current mortgage decreased in the past week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

For the week ending February 16, the MBA’s survey showed that the weekly Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, decreased by 5.2 percent overall from the previous week. Refinance applications decreased by 5.4 percent, while purchase applications went down by 4.8 percent.

Bob Walters, chief economist of Quicken Loans, says he still expects consumers to take advantage of the opportunity they have in real estate throughout 2007.

“Though mortgage applications declined last week, the economic outlook for 2007 bodes very well for housing and mortgage activity, on both the home purchase and refinancing fronts. Mortgage rates remain favorable, employment is strong, and recent industry data has hinted toward an improving real estate picture,” said Walters. “With more than $1.1 trillion in ARMs expected to adjust in 2007 we expect a strong pace of homeowners refinancing out of adjustable rate mortgages into fixed-rate programs throughout the year.”

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