Refi Applications Surge as Rates Inch Lower

Refi Applications Surge as Rates Inch Lower

Refinancing pushed the volume of mortgage loan applications to one of its biggest week-over-week increases in ten months, during the period that ended February 3. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of that volume, jumped 7.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier and was 8.0 percent higher on an unadjusted basis. The Refinance Index was 18.0 percent higher than the previous week and the refinance share of application activity rose to 33.9 percent from 31.2 percent. Volume, however, is still 75 percent lower than the same week one year ago when the share of applications was at 56.2 percent. [refiappschart] The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index gained 3.0 percent week-over-week and was 4 percent higher on an un