Investing.com - The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. rose for the first time in four weeks last week, despite rising interest rates, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Mortgage Bankers Association said their mortgage market index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased by a seasonally adjusted 6.2% in the week ending November 13 to 433.9. That follows a drop of 1.3% to 408.7 in the preceding week.
"This was despite the fact that mortgage rates reached their highest level since July," said Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the MBA.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances climbed to an 18-week high of 4.18% from 4.12% in the previous week.
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.