Mortgage Applications Inch Up: MBA

An increase in purchase activity for the week ending March 5, 2010 caused mortgage loan application volume

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to nudge up 0.5 percent from the prior week, the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mortgagebankers.org/default.htm (MBA) reported Wednesday.

According to MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, the seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index increased 5.7 percent on a week-to-week basis. The Refinance Index, though, declined 1.5 percent, and the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 67.2 percent of total loan applications--the lowest it has been since October 2009.

The Refinance Index fell after soaring 17.2 percent in last week's survey. The dramatic change in activity in this week's report was possibly the result of a week-to-week increase in mortgage rates.

MBA said the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages jumped to 5.01 percent, up from 4.95 percent the previous week. During the same period, the average rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.32 percent from 4.27 percent.