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The
Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index
of mortgage application activity, which includes both
refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 3.6 percent in the
week ended Aug. 14.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications
climbed 7.2 percent, hitting its highest level since May. The
gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator
of home sales, dipped 1.1 percent.
The refinance share of total mortgage activity rose to 55.5
percent of applications from 53.1 percent the week before.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.11 percent in the week,
the lowest level since May. They were down 2 basis points from
4.13 percent the previous week.
"Concerns about the Chinese economy pushed interest rates down
last week," said Lynn Fisher, MBA's vice president of research
and economics. "The pick-up in refinance activity was led by
larger loan sizes on average, as continued investor interest
drove jumbo interest rates down even further."
The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential
mortgage applications, according to MBA.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Chris Reese)
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