As temperatures soar this summer, homebuyer demand is heating up with it. Add that to an already strong refinance market, and total mortgage application volume rose 4.1% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Helping to fan demand were mortgage rates hovering near a record low.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $510,400 or less increased just barely to 3.20% from 3.19%. Points, including origination fee, increased to 0.35 from 0.33 for loans with a 20% down payment.
