According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, total mortgage loan application volume rose 12.6 percent last week, following the previous week’s decline. Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said the East Coast suffered large decreases following the effects of the hurricane but rebounded strongly last week. The Refinance Index was up 13 percent over the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 11 percent. Also, average mortgage rates reached a new survey low. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances fell to 3.52 percent from 3.61 percent the week before. The refinance share of total mortgage activity rose to 81 percent. More here and here.
