U.S. mortgage applications rise in latest week-MBA

[July 22, 2015]  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Applications for U.S. home mortgages edged up last week along with purchase applications, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 0.1 percent in the week ended July 17.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications fell 0.5 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, rose 1.0 percent.

The refinance share of total mortgage activity fell to 50.3 percent of applications from 50.8 percent the week before.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.23 percent in the week, unchanged from the previous week.

The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Diane Craft)
 

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.