Mortgage Refinancing Up as Rates Lower
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), U.S. home loan applications climbed last week as lower mortgage rates spurred demand for refinancing and overshadowed a small drop in applications to buy houses.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted mortgage application index rose 2.5 percent to 743.4 in the week ended April 11, the second weekly increase in the volatile gauge of mortgage applications, pushing the measure well above a reading of 630.6 a year earlier.
Average 30-year home loan rates dropped 0.04 percentage point in the latest week to 5.74 percent, nearly half a percentage point lower than a year ago, according to the MBA.
With long-term mortgage rates easing, the MBA's seasonally adjusted refinancing applications index gained 5.2 percent to 2,866.0, easily offsetting the 0.8 percent decline in home purchase applications to 381.6 last week.
Published on April 16, 2008
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