Mortgage loan applications rose for the first time in four weeks, according to The Mortgage Bankers Association today in their Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. For the week ending June 9, the Market Composite Index showed applications overall increased 7.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week.

The Purchase Index and the Refinance Index both saw increases from the previous week, with purchases up 4.8 percent and refinances up 10.6 percent.

"With long-term interest rates holding steady and short-term interest rising, homeowners with ARMs are driven to refinance into a fixed-rate mortgage to avoid an increase in payments. Consumers interested in purchasing are also taking advantage of long-term rates that are still quite low," said Bob Walters, chief economist of Loans. "The Fed has raised short-term interest rates 16 times since June 2004 with the stated intent of keeping inflation under control."

Publish Date: 06/14/2006