Mortgage demand increased for the second straight week despite another uptick in interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Asssociation said today.
Home loan application volume was up 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending December 11, thanks to a 0.9 percent increase in refinance applications partially offset by weaker purchase demand.
Purchase apps fell 3.6 percent compared with the previous week and were 15.4 percent lower than the same week a year ago.
That pushed the refinance share to 75.2 percent of total applications from 74.4 percent the previous week, the highest it has been since the week ending April 24.
Meanwhile, interest rates were a mixed bag, though the ever-popular 30-year fixed climbed higher, rising to 4.92 percent from 4.88 percent during the week.
The 15-year fixed remained unchanged at 4.33 percent, while the one-year adjustable-rate mortgage decreased to 6.52 percent from 6.55 percent.
The ARM-share of activity decreased to 4.1 percent from 4.7 percent of total applications one week earlier, the lowest since mid-June.
The MBA’s weekly survey covers more than half of all retail, residential home loan applications, but does not factor out multiple or declined apps.
(photo: paullnettles)
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