Mortgage application volume increased by 2.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended March 18, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Both refinance application volume and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index were also up by 2.7% over the previous week, although the unadjusted purchase index was down over 15% from the same period in 2010.
The market share of refi applications remained at 66.4% for the second week in a row. MBA tracks activity through its proprietary application index.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased one basis point to 4.8%, with points decreasing from 1.07 to 0.96 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio loans. MBA said the effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for the 15-year FRM decreased one basis point to 4.02%. Points increased from 0.85 to 0.90. The effective rate for these loans increased from the prior week.
