Weekly mortgage applications increased to their highest level since 2009, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.
Applications were up 18 percent from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis to their highest level since May 2009.
“Mortgage application volume increased sharply last week. The increase was accentuated due to the comparison to the week including Memorial Day, but the level of refinance and total market activity is the highest since the spring of 2009,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics.
Fratantoni also notes that volume in the government’s refinance program for underwater borrowers with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, which was expanded in January, has been steady in recent weeks at about 28 percent of refinance applications.
Lower mortgage rates have led many homeowners to refinance their mortgages, though tougher lending requirements still keep many prospective home buyers from taking out new debt.
The refinance share of total mortgage activity inched up to 79 percent of applications from 7 8 percent the week before.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 3.88 percent in the week, u p a single basis point from 3 .87 percent t he week before.
The average for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 3.23 percent from a survey low of 3.2 percent a week earlier.
Nearly 79 percent of the applications were for refinancing, up from 78 percent the previous week.