U.S. mortgage applications continued to rise last week, boosted by strong refinancing demand, industry data showed Wednesday. However, unusually low interest rates failed to produce much demand for home purchase applications, signaling weakness in the housing market.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, rose 4.1 percent in the week ended August 12.
Refinancing rose 8 percent to its highest in nine months, but loan requests for home purchases dropped 9.1 percent.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.32 percent, down from 4.37 percent the week before.
Refinancing made up 78.8 percent of total applications, compared to 75.6 percent the week before.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com