Investing.com - The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. rose sharply last week, boosted by lower 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 9.3% in the week ending June 3 to 520.4. That follows a decline of 4.1% to 476.1 in the preceding week.
Refinance applications rose 7% from the previous week, seasonally adjusted, and purchase applications jumped 12%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances inched down to 3.83% from 3.85% in the preceding week.
"Given the weak employment report for May, we think it is unlikely that the Fed will raise rates in June," said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist of the MBA. "However, as other economic data are pointing to continued economic growth, we do expect that they will increase rates following their July meeting."
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.