Mortgage applications rebound

Requests for home loans and refinancing activity increased last week after falling to 7-month lows the week before.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Demand for mortgages to buy homes and refinance loans bounced from seven-month lows last week, with average 30-year borrowing rates unchanged, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

The industry group's total loan applications index rose a seasonally adjusted 10.9% to 493.1 in the week ended July 3, after slumping the prior week to the lowest level since November.

Last week's report was adjusted to account for the Independence Day holiday on Friday.

A sudden spike in home loan rates from record lows in the spring had derailed a race by homeowners to cut monthly costs by refinancing.

The group's seasonally adjusted refinancing index rose 15.2% last week to 1,707.7, after a 30% plunge in the prior week.

Purchase applications, which lagged refinancing demand all through the spring home sales season, rose 6.7% last week to 285.6.

The average 30-year mortgage rate stayed at 5.34% last week. That was up from the record low 4.61% in late March, based on MBA data, but sharply below 7.04% in the same week a year ago.

On a four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility, the purchase index rose 1.4% and the refinance index fell 10.9%.

Beach to Bay Real Estate Center is a full service real estate brokerage servicing buyers, sellers and renters at the Delaware beach areas. We handle all forms of real estate, including residential, commercial, and lots and land, in addition to bank owned, short sales and auctioned properties and representation; mortgage needs including refinances, new home purchases, second homes, first time homebuyer programs and reverse mortgages; maintain professional relationships with local settlement attorneys, insurance companies, contractors, and inspection companies; and are affiliated with a preservation and restoration company. Beach to Bay services all of Sussex County, and southern Kent County, with a strong focus on the beach resort areas of Rehoboth Beach (19971), Lewes (19958), Bethany Beach (19930), Dewey Beach (19971), Milton (19968), Millsboro (19966) and more.