Mortgage Applications Up in July 23 Week

Wed Jul 28, 2004

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New applications for U.S. mortgages climbed last week for the first time in three weeks as most mortgage interest rates increased, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted market index, a measure of mortgage activity, moved slightly higher for the week ending July 23 by 0.6 percent to 621.4 from the previous week's 617.9.

The Washington trade group's purchase index, a gauge of new loan requests for home purchases, rose last week by 1 percent to 444.8 from 440.3 in the prior week.

The Washington trade group's seasonally adjusted refinancing index dipped by 0.1 percent to 1,648.8 from previous week's 1,651.1.

Thirty-year mortgage rates, excluding fees, averaged 5.97 percent, up 0.01 percentage point from the previous week. Last week's average 30-year rates were up 0.1 percentage point from the comparable week a year ago.

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