Investing.com - The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. rose for the first time in three weeks last week, as interest rates moved slightly 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, inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in the week ending March 4 to 497.3. That follows a drop of 4.8% to 496.5 in the preceding week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances inched down to 3.81% from 3.83% in the preceding week.
Refinances fell 2% for the week, seasonally adjusted, while purchase applications rose 4% to the highest level since January and are 30 percent higher than last year.
"Mortgage markets continued to retrench last week," said Lynn Fisher, the MBA's vice president of research and economics. "Declining refinance activity was accompanied by falling average loan sizes for refinance applications, which have decreased for the third consecutive week after reaching their survey peak."
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.