WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Mortgage applications increased 2.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 5, 2017. 

• The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 2.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent from one week earlier to its highest level since October 2015. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 6 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Purchase Index increased 2 percent from the previous week to its highest level since April 2009. 

• The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 41.9 percent of total applications from 41.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 8.2 percent of total applications. 

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) remained unchanged at 4.23 percent, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.