Mortgage Applications Jump

U.S. home mortgage applications  jumped last week as a result of the drop in interest rates leading to a greater demand to refinance. Due to concerns over the debt crisis in Europe, interest rates for the 30 year mortgages were lowered to a near historic low. The Mortgage Bankers Association said that the index of mortgage activity (refinancing and home purchase demand) rose 6.9%  from April 6 to April 13.  These indexes are seasonally adjusted and covers over 75% of retail residential mortgage applications.  However refinancing and home purchase demand did not rise altogether, refinancing rose 13.5% while home purchase demand fell 11.2%.   The refinance share of total mortgage activity rose 4.7% to 75.2%  of applications.