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

[June 24, 2015]  NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week as interest rates dipped, 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 1.6 percent in the week ended June 19.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications rose 1.8 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, rose 1.2 percent.

The refinance share of total mortgage activity rose to 49.0 percent of applications from 48.5 percent the week before.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.19 percent in the week, down 3 basis points from 4.22 percent 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 Leslie Adler)

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