Mortgage applications increased 1.7% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 4.
The MBA's market composite index increased 1.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 2% compared with the previous week.Â
The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 3.4% from one week earlier, spurred by a 5.4% increase in the seasonally adjusted conventional purchase index. The unadjusted purchase index increased 3.8% compared with the previous week and was 0.4% lower than the same week one year ago.
The refinance index increased 1.3% from the previous week, driven by a 1.8% increase to the conventional refinance index, while the government refinance index decreased 2.3%. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 72.1% of total applications from 72.6% the previous week. This is the lowest refinance share since April 6.
The government purchase share decreased over the week from 37% to 35.8% of all purchase applications. This is the lowest government purchase share since March 27, 2009.