Mortgage application volume rose for the second straight week after hitting its lowest point since 2001, according to the latest survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association released today.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, home loan applications were up 7.5 percent for the week ending July 4 compared to one week earlier.
On an unadjusted basis, not factoring in the holiday-shortened reporting period, the application index fell 14.1 percent compared with the previous week and was down 18.1 percent compared with the same week a year earlier.
The increase in volume could be attributed to a 19.8 percent surge in FHA lending, followed by an 8.7 percent increase in refinance applications and a 6.7 percent bump in purchase apps.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased from 36.8 percent to 37.3 percent of total application volume, despite the fact that interest rates yo-yoed higher during the week.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage clocked in at 6.43 percent, up from 6.33 percent a week earlier, while the 15-year increased four basis points to 5.94 percent.
The average one-year adjustable-rate mortgage priced at 7.24 percent, up from 7.14 percent the week before.
Despite the relatively high cost of ARMs, their share of total loan application activity increased to 10.0 percent from 8.5 percent the previous week.
The MBA’s weekly survey only takes into account retail loan originations, which have surely risen as a result of wholesale’s demise.
(photo: zara)
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