Mortgage applications move higher

The volume of mortgage applications reversed direction last week, pulling out a small gain after three straight weeks of declines.  The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 4, was up 2.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and 2.0 percent unadjusted compared to the previous week. 

The Refinancing Index, which had fallen a cumulative 18 percentage points over the previous three weeks, gained 3 percent and its share of mortgage activity rose to 63.1 percent from 62.5 percent of applications. The Refinancing Index was 60 percent higher than the same week in 2019, but that week had included the Labor Day holiday.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent from one week earlier and was 0.2 percent higher on an unadjusted basis. The Purchase Index has moved higher in four of the last five weeks and was 40 percent higher than the same week one year ago.