After significant declines in mortgage applications in the states affected by Hurricane Sandy in the previous week, application volume increased in the week ending November 9, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
MBA's Mortgage Applications Survey showed that total volume was up 12.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. This was sparked by increases in both refinance activity and requests for purchases.
The Refinance Index jumped 13 percent, while the Purchase Index was up 8 percent. The surge in refinances increased the refi share of all activity from 80 to 81 percent. The adjustable-rate mortgage share was unchanged at 4 percent of all applications.
"Following the decrease in applications two weeks ago due to the effects of superstorm Sandy, mortgage applications in many East Coast states rebounded strongly this week," said Mike Fratantoni, vice president of research and economics at MBA.
Application volume was also helped by mortgage rates remaining near record lows, as Freddie Mac reported fixed-mortgage rates were still hovering near lows as of the week ending November 8.
