Lower mortgage rates boost refinancing

The four-week moving average, which smooths the volatile weekly figures, is up 1.4 percent for the market index, down 0.8 percent for the purchase index and up 2.3 percent for refinancing, reflecting the current improving trend. 

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 73 percent of total applications from 72.1 percent the previous week, the highest refinance share observed since the week ending Dec. 10. 

The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.77 percent from 4.78 percent, while 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.16 percent from 4.15 percent, after hitting historically low rates over the past several months.