Investing.com - The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. rose last week, as interest rates pushed lower, 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 2.9% in the week ending September 30 to 542.2. That follows a decline of 0.7% to 527.1 in the preceding week.
Applications to refinance a home loan rose 5% for the week, while home purchase applications, which are far less rate-sensitive week to week, fell 0.1% last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances dipped to a three-month low of 3.62% from 3.66% in the preceding week.
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.