Refinance applications see double-digit increase

The dollar volume of refinance applications was back up for the week ending July 15, according to Fannie Mae’s Refinance Application-Level Index (RALI).

Data from the RALI series, sourced from Fannie’s Desktop Underwriter, showed a 22.3% weekly rebound in refinance dollar volume. However, it remained down by 74.4% from the same period a year ago.

“As expected, refinance applications rebounded significantly following the previous week’s holiday-driven contraction, leaving the year-over-year decrease mostly unchanged at nearly 75%,” Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan said. “While mortgage rates have been volatile in recent weeks, they remain significantly higher than they were at the start of the year, limiting consumers’ refi incentive and keeping the overall level of refinance activity low.”