US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 28 February +20.4% vs -1.2% prior

• Prior -1.2%
• Market index 242.2 vs 212.3 prior
• Purchase index 144.5 vs 144.3 prior
• Refinance index 784.2 vs 572.5 prior
• 30-year mortgage rate 6.73% vs 6.88% prior

After a more subdued past few weeks, US mortgage applications surged higher again in the last week – mainly helped by a sharp rise in refinancing activity (as seen above). Despite the rise though, the market index is only at its highest since the end of December. So, that sort of puts things into perspective a bit. The drop in the average rate for the most popular US home loan to 6.73% is a helping factor.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.