The Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage application volume rose 7.5 percent to 1,054.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended January 25, its highest point since March 2004, according to the latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 10.5 percent from the previous week and was up 70.7 percent compared with the same week a year earlier.
But despite an overall increase in applications led by a 22.1 percent increase in refinances, purchase application volume sunk a whopping 17.7 percent.
That caused the refinance share to swell to 73 percent of all applications, up from 66 percent the week prior.
The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications rose to 5,103.6, its highest point July 2003, while the purchase index declined to 362.0.
Much of that spike can be attributed to the ultra-low interest rates available last week that pushed borrowers to inquire about changing the terms on their existing home loans.
While still historically low, interest rates moved higher for the first time in a month, led by the 30-year fixed which increased to 5.60 percent from 5.49 percent, with the 15-year fixed rising to 5.04 percent, up from 4.96 a week earlier.
The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 8.6 from 9.3 percent of total applications from the previous week, with the one-year ARM climbing to 5.70 percent from 5.51 percent the prior week.
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