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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced this morning that the number of Americans applying for a mortgage to purchase a home or refinance their current mortgage increased in the past week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

For the week ending February 23, the MBA’s survey showed that the weekly Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, increased by 3.2 percent overall from the previous week. Refinance applications increased by 1.2 percent, while purchase applications went up by 5.2 percent.

Bob Walters, chief economist of Quicken Loans, says that the most recent rise in mortgage activity is due to consumers refinancing out of their adjustable rate mortgage into a fixed-rate mortgage.

“More than $1.1 trillion in ARMs are expected to adjust in 2007, so the increase in refinance applications is not that surprising as more homeowners move to fixed-rate mortgages,” said Walters. “Long-term interest rates continue to hover in the low to mid-sixes range, which is also supporting the housing market, as evidenced by the growing number of people applying for a mortgage to purchase a home.”

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