Mortgage Application Volumes Climb

Mortgage applications again rose for a second consecutive week by 2.9 percent. The rise for the week ending May 9 has been largely fueled by an increase in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates dropped.

The figures, which are part of the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey, show an increase in the application index to 674.4 during the week, compared with 655.4 the week before.

The refinance share of applications increased to 48.7 percent from 47.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 8.3 percent, up from 6.8 percent the previous week.

Applications filed for mortgages to purchase homes dipped a seasonally adjusted 0.7% on a week-to-week basis, while refinancing applications rose 6.5%

The MBA survey provides an overview of mortgage lending activity among mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts and covers about half of all U.S retail residential mortgage applications.