Mortgage Application Volume Responds Quickly to Recent Rate Drop

Mortgage Application Volume Responds Quickly to Recent Rate Drop

Mortgage applications increased last week for the fifth time in six weeks. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 5.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the previous week and was up 6.0 percent before adjustment. Applications for home purchases accounted for nearly all of the gains, but the Refinance Index did eke out a 0.1 percent increase. Refinance activity is now 57 percent lower than the same week one year ago. Refinancing accounted for 27.0 percent of applications compared to 28.6 percent during the last week of March. [refiappschart] The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 8.0 percent and was 9.0 percent higher on an unadjusted basis. The unadjusted inde