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Mortgage applications shot up 4.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, above averages seen year-over-year but far below gains in overall volume that occurred over the last several months.
[IMAGE]Releasing the figures in a weekly survey Wednesday, the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mbaa.org/default.htm (MBA) reported mortgage application volume expanding 34.4 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis.
A spokesperson for the trade group could not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The refinance share of mortgage activity contracted to 80.8 percent of application volume, with figures for the MBA's Refinance Index climbing to 3.3 percent from the week earlier.
[COLUMN_BREAK]The Purchase Index leapt forward by 8.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and by 41.9 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis, 17.9 percent lower than figures seen during the same week in 2011.
The share of activity for adjustable-rate mortgages reached 5.4 percent of application volume, up from 4.7 percent from the week before.
Interest rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô including those with conforming balances and others backed by the Federal Housing Administration ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô encountered only modest changes as mortgage rates remain static on the whole.
Investors fleeing Europe to the safe haven of U.S. Treasury debt continue to increase downward pressure for mortgage rates, experts say, making homes historically more affordable than ever.
Even so, homeowners ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô concerned by and large with job growth and a still-brittle economic recovery ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô continue to stay on the sidelines despite all-time highs for affordability in the market.
""Paul Diggle"":http://www.capitaleconomics.com/staff/property-economics/paul-diggle.html, a property economist with ""Capital Economics"":http://www.capitaleconomics.com/, said in a note that ""the slightly weaker tone of the activity data is a reminder of the headwinds still facing the housing market.
""Strict credit scoring standards and widespread negative equity among existing borrowers mean that up to half of all households are effectively shut out of the mortgage market,"" he added.
