Industry data to be released Wednesday will show whether home loan applications rose for the second straight week as interest rates dipped.
The Mortgage Bankers Association is scheduled to report its index of mortgage application volume for the week ended May 9 at 7 a.m. EDT.
The seasonally adjusted index rose 15.6 percent to 655.4 for the week ended May 2. Refinancing applications increased 19.3 percent, while purchase applications grew by 12.1 percent.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, said last Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to an average of 6.05 percent, down from 6.06 percent a week earlier.
The mortgage bankers' index, which stood at 100 at its onset in March 1990, is derived from a survey of major lenders representing about half of the U.S. mortgages made each week. It does not include loans made by nonbank lenders.
The index has fluctuated over the past two years after sinking in June 2006 to 529.6, its lowest level since 2002. It peaked at 1,856.7 in May 2003 at the height of the housing boom.
The mortgage industry's well-publicized woes, which started with defaults by borrowers with weak credit and spread to better quality loans, have shuttered dozens of lenders and led to multibillion dollar losses. Earlier this week, mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc. swung to a $184 million loss in the first quarter and warned it would not post a profitable quarter in 2008.
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