Applications for mortgage refinancings were off sharply last week as interest rates jumped, but demand for purchase loans edged up slightly, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in releasing the results of its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Applications for refinancings were down a seasonally adjusted 18.9 percent from the previous week during the week ending May 22. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 4.81 percent from 4.69 percent, with points increasing to 1.28 from 1.13 on loans with 20 percent down payments, the MBA said.
Applications for purchase loans were up 1 percent, but applications for refinancings still accounted for 69.3 percent of all applications. A year ago, applications for refinancings made up 46.1 percent of applications.
Looking back a year, applications for purchase loans were down 27 percent, while applications for refinancings were up 93 percent.
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