Total mortgage loan application volume rose 4.3% for the week ending July 10, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. The index is down 2.7% on an unadjusted basis from the same week a year earlier. Refinancing applications increased 17.7% this week from the previous week and accounted for 54.9% of the total loan application volume, a jump from 48.4% a week ago. The MBA, which also weekly surveys of mortgage rates, saw decreases across the board. The average rates for 30–year fixed mortgages fell to 5.05% from 5.34% a week ago, and the average 15-year fixed mortgage rates dipped to 4.59% from 4.83% the previous week. The amount of loan applications per household fell 1.8% for the week ending July 10, according to a weekly survey by Mortgage Maxx, which adjusts raw application data to count multiple applications from within a single household as one participant in the application process. “Despite mortgage rates being able to remain within sight of their recent lows, mortgage activity remains mired some thirty percent below its spring high,” Mortgage Maxx reported. The report added that with the upward trajectory of foreclosures and unemployment rates, “organic housing turnover is at its perennial plateau.” Write to Jon Prior.

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