Refinance activity picks up

1/22/2014 3:06:29 PM

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Heading into the end of January, refinance activity grew, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Following a slight drop in interest rates, more homeowners were hoping to cash in on the best mortgage refinance rates seen in the last few weeks.

For the week ending Jan. 17, mortgage applications rose 4.7 percent from the previous week. In the mortgage refinance sector, applications rose 10 percent from the previous week, accounting for a 64 percent share of the mortgage market. That marked the largest share in a month. In the previous week, mortgage refinance applications represented only 62 percent of the market.

After the Federal Reserve announced it would begin to taper its stimulus spending program known as quantitative easing, applications hit their lowest level since December 2000. The recent uptick could be an indicator that Americans are able to find low rate mortgage options. The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan limit reached 4.57 percent during the week ending Jan. 17 - the lowest rate in several weeks. Interest rates for FHA mortgages were even lower, dropping to 4.23 percent for a 30-year FRM.

Contact the Federal Savings Bank, a veteran owned bank, for the best mortgage refinance rates.