() Houston – Mortgage applications rose 7% last week over the prior week’s application rate as US homebuyers moved back into the housing market thanks to record low mortgage rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Refinance applications also rose last week, up 9% over the prior week, their highest level since May of last year.  Yet the spike was offset by a 2% drop in new home mortgage applications.

For eight of nine consecutive weeks new home mortgage applications have been declining, the MBA stated.  The drop in new home loan applications was pegged to the Obama administration’s tax credit program which ended on April 30, 2010.

New home mortgage applications now stand at 35% below year-ago levels.

Refinance applications accounted for 79% of the total mortgage applications applied for last week, the group stated.

30-year fixed-rate loans on July 2, 2010 were 4.67%, compared to 4.68% during the week ending June 28, 2010.  15-year mortgage rates during the same period dropped sharply, down 0.05% at 4.06%.  One-year ARM rates were 7.05%, compared to 7.20% in the prior week.

 

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