WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Mortgage application volume increased 5.1 percent from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted survey.

• The gain was driven by applications to refinance a home loan, which rose 6 percent for the week but were still 31 percent lower than a year ago, when interest rates were lower.

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) remained unchanged at 4.83 percent, with points decreasing to 0.48 from 0.53 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.