Mortgage Applications Increase for Both Purchases and Refinances

The number of applications submitted by consumers for mortgage loans rose last week, as interest rates held low. The ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mortgagebankers.org (MBA) says its measurement of total mortgage application volume increased 5.8 percent for the week ending November 5th, when compared to the previous week.

Applications for home purchases were up 5.5 percent from one week earlier, marking their third consecutive weekly increase. MBA says its purchase index is 33.9 percent above where it was at this time last year. The[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]

conventional purchase index increased 5.4 percent to its highest level since May of this year.

""The increases in purchase applications we have seen over the past couple of weeks align with the better than expected news from October's employment report and other data indicating some improvement in the economy's growth prospects,"" commented Michael Fratantoni, MBA's VP of research and economics.

MBA's index for refinance applications also rose, jumping 6.0 percent from the previous week. Refinances made up 81.7 percent of total mortgage applications last week, according to the trade group's market analysis.

Consumer demand for home loans got a boost last week despite the fact that mortgage rates didn't move after the Federal Reserve announced its decision to purchase ""$600 billion of Treasury bonds"":http://dsnews.comarticles/fed-to-buy-600b-in-securities-hold-interest-rates-low-2010-11-03 over the next eight months. Still, mortgage interest rates remain extremely low by historical standards â€" in fact, very near their lowest levels in more than a half-century.

MBA says the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was unchanged at 4.28 percent. The average rate for 15-year fixed mortgages also remained level at 3.64 percent last week.