Mortgage loan applications & rates increase

The volume of mortgage loan applications filed during the week ending April 3, 2009, increased by more than 4 percent last week, according to the Weekly Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).  In addition, the proportion of applications for home purchases compared to refinancing applications also grew. The Market Composite Index, which measures loan application volumes for the week ending April 3 rose 4.7 percent to 1250.6 from 1194.4 the previous year. The seasonally adjusted Market Index rose 13.3 percent. On an unadjusted basis the Market Index rose 4.9 percent from the level of the previous week and 67.6 percent over the same week in 2008. The Purchase Index increased 11.1 percent from 268.0 to 297.7 in a single week. The Conventional Purchase Index incre