Home Purchase Apps Highest Since January

Purchase mortgage applications rose for the 6th straight week, driving the Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index back into positive territory. The Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 2.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended May 22. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3 percent compared with the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index rose by 9 percent compared to one week earlier and was 7 percent higher on an unadjusted basis. The volume of purchase applications pulled ahead of the level during the same week in 2019 by 9 percent, the first year-over-year gain since the week ended March 6.

The Refinance Index decreased 0.2 percent from the previous week but remained 176 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 62.6 percent of total applications from 64.3 percent the previous week.