Applications Climb

Mortgage applications rose 13.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended Nov. 1, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications were up 12.7% on the week but down 1.0% from the level recorded a year earlier. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Purchase Index rose from 338.6 to 369.5, while the Refinance Index jumped from 4240.4 to 4875.1. Refinancings represented 70.6% of total applications, up from 69.2% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 13.4%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose slightly from 6.01% to 6.03%, and points (including the origination fee) decreased from 1.55 to 1.40 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mbaa.org.