Mortgage applications last week surged to the highest level in nearly three months as interest rates fell, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report today. Bloomberg News credited the lower rates with fueling both home purchases and refinancing.
The MBA said the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 6.04 percent, the lowest since the week ended Dec. 8, from 6.16 percent the week before. At last week’s rate, each $100,000 of borrowing would cost about $602 per month, or $17 less than a year ago.
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The association’s seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications last week rose 7.3 percent to 671.6 points from 626.1 the week before. The MBA’s Purchase Index was at a five-week high while the Refinance Index was at its highest level since early December.
“Housing demand is finding a base,” David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York, told Bloomberg. “The market isn’t recovering significantly but sales are starting to stabilize.”
Additional information is available at www.mortgagebankers.org.
