Purchase demand for mortgages up slightly last week

Last week, purchase demand for U.S. home mortgages improved, but applications for the mortgages remained unchanged and refinancing activity held steady, Reuters reported.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 0.2 percent in the week ended Oct 28.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted gauge of loan requests for home purchases climbed 1.8 percent, while the index of refinancing applications was off 0.2 percent.

The refinance share of total mortgage activity dipped to 77.1 percent of applications from 77.3 percent the week before, the fourth straight week of declines.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.31 percent, down 2 basis points from 4.33 percent.

The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.