Mortgage Applications Rise, Led by Refinances

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week as both purchase and refinancing applications picked up, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 2.4 percent in the week ended July 18.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications climbed 4.1 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, rose 0.3 percent.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.33 percent in the week, unchanged from the week before.\

The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.