Refi applications on the rise again

Applications for refinancings were up last week but purchase applications were down, with homeowners looking to refinance generating nearly three out of four loan requests, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Applications for refinance loans were up 4.5 percent for the week ending May 15, the MBA said in releasing the results of its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for purchase loans were down 4.4 percent from the previous week. All in all, mortgage loan applications were up 2.3 percent from the week before, the MBA said.

Looking back a year, applications for purchase loans last week were down 28 percent, while applications for refinancings were up 117 percent.

Applications for refinancings made up 73.6 percent of total applications last week, up from 71.9 percent the previous week and 48.2 percent a year ago. Requests for adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans made up 2.4 percent of applications, up from 2.3 percent the previous week but down from 10 percent a year ago.

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