Mortgage application volume rose a seasonally-adjusted 3.2 percent last week, according to data released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Overall application volume was up 0.7 percent from one year ago, driven in part by an increase in refinancing activity. Refinance applications were up 4.9 percent, the MBA said, while government loan application volume also surged, climbing 6.1 percent from the previous week. Conventional applications rose 3.0 percent. The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted composit index is up 2.2 percent, reflecting a common trend towards increasing volume in January as lenders and borrowers thaw out after the holiday season.. The moving average for refinance activity is also up, gaining 4 percent from last week.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased slightly to 47.4 percent of total applications from 47.8 percent the previous week, according to the MBA. Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 21.4 from 20.3 percent of total applications from the previous week, showing borrowers haven’t been too spooked by a slight upward trend in mortgage rates over the past two weeks.