Mortgage Activity Surges

Bouncing back from a sluggish holiday season mortgage activity surged in the January 4 week, with purchase applications rising a seasonally adjusted 17 percent and applications for refinancing increasing by 35 percent. The weekly increase put purchase applications back into positive year-on-year territory at 4 percent above the level in the same week a year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity rose 3.1 percentage points to 45.8 percent, the highest level in 11 months. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgages ($484,350 or less) fell 10 basis points to 4.74 percent, its lowest level since April 2018.