by Calculated Risk on 5/08/2013 08:31:00 AM

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

The Refinance Index increased 8 percent from the previous week to the highest level since December 2012. The gain in the Refinance Index was due to increases in both the conventional and government refinance indices of 8.8 percent and 5.7 percent respectively. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent from one week earlier to the highest level since May 2010.
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The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) decreased to 3.59 percent, the lowest rate since December 2012, from 3.60 percent, with points increasing to 0.33 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows the refinance index.

There has been a sustained refinance boom for over a year.

This was the highest level for the refinance index since last December.

The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.  The 4-week average of the purchase index has generally been trending up over the last year, and the purchase index - and the 4-week average of the purchase index - are at the highest level since May 2010.