Mortgage applications rise 11.7%

Author(s):

Kerri Ann Panchuk [1]

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The average contract interest rate for the 30-year, FRM with a conforming loan balance increased to 3.61% from 3.52%, while the average 30-year FRM with a jumbo balance edged up to 3.78% from 3.75%.

Mortgage applications for the week ending Jan. 4 shot up 11.7% even as interest rates edged up during the same period, an industry trade group said.

The Mortgage Bankers Association released its mortgage applications survey Wednesday, noting both refinancing and purchase activity rose from a week earlier [3].

The refinance index, which measures refinancing application volume, shot up 12% from the previous week.

Still, when compared to the pre-holiday period two weeks earlier, the index edged up a little less than 1%.

The purchase index also rose 10% from the previous survey, but is down 2% from the pre-holiday period two weeks ago.

Overall, refinancing activity still made up 82% of all mortgage applications.

The average contract interest rate for the 30-year, FRM with a conforming loan balance increased to 3.61% from 3.52%, while the average 30-year FRM with a jumbo balance edged up to 3.78% from 3.75%.

The 30-year, FRM backed by the FHA grew to 3.35%, up from 3.34%. In addition, the 15-year, FRM edged up to 2.88% from 2.86%.

The 5/1 ARM, on the other hand, declined to 2.64% from 2.65%.

kpanchuk@housingwire.com [4]