Refi Activity Drives Mortgage Applications Up

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly application survey found mortgage application activity on an upward swing last week, jumping 3.8 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis for the week ending October 26, 2007 versus one week earlier. The Composite Index of all applications was up 19.5 percent compared to the same week one year ago, the trade organization said. Driving the increase was a sharp jump in refinance activity, with the MBA reporting a jump of 9.2 percent in its Refinance Index; purchase applications decreased 0.7 percent. Not surprisingly, refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 49.6 percent of total applications from 47.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 14.7 from 14.2 percent of total applications from the previous week. For more information, visit http://www.mortgagebankers.org.