Mortgage Applications Rise Ahead of Independence Day

Total mortgage applications submitted in the week ending July 3 showed a holiday-adjusted 10.9% increase from the previous week’s applications, according to an application survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA found the volume of applications for refinancing rose 15.2% as refinance applications accounted for 48.4% of total application activity, from 46.4% a week earlier but still well below recent highs. A separate mortgage application survey conducted by Mortgage Maxx found household activity rose virtually on-par with the MBA’s survey. The Mortgage Application Index — or MAX — adjusts total application data to count multiple submissions from a single household as one applicant. The MAX found household activity rose 10.6% in the week ending July 3. Even with an adjustment for the shortened holiday week, however, MAX publisher Paul Descloux warned against too much optimism on the weekly rise. The household index, after all, slid 30% from highs in May and is still below its year-ago level, he said. “Overall,” Descloux added, “the green shoots theory appears to be losing steam for housing as quantitative easing shows little alpha for hard pressed mortgagors while savers face negative real returns.” Write to Diana Golobay.