Home refinancing applications increase while purchase index declines

A federal tax incentive of up
to $8,000 expired April 30. Homebuyers eligible for the write-off were granted
a three-month extension to Sept. 30 to complete closings on their
purchases. 

Loan application volume
increased 6.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week prior,
according to the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application
volume. 

The four-week moving average
for the seasonally adjusted market index is up 6.4 percent.  

The refinance share of
mortgage activity increased to 78.7 percent of total applications from 76.8
percent the previous week, the highest refinance share observed in the survey
since April 2009. 

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate
mortgages increased to 4.68 percent from 4.67 percent. The average contract
interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.11 percent from
4.06 percent.