Mortgage Applications Climb Last Week NEW YORK (Reuters) - New applications for U.S. home loans rose last week, even as 30-year mortgage rates increased from the previous week, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted market index, a measure of mortgage activity, rose by 8.2 percent to 761.7 for the week ended on Oct. 29 from the previous week's 703.9. Thirty-year mortgage rates, excluding fees, averaged 5.65 percent, up 0.11 percentage point from the previous week, but 0.20 percentage point lower than a year ago, the Washington trade group said. The MBA's seasonally adjusted index on new refinancing applications jumped by 3.1 percent to 2,303.9 for last week from the previous week's 2,233.8. The association's purchase index, a gauge of new loan requests for home purchases, climbed by 12.6 percent last week to 496.5 from 440.9 in the prior week. Quelle "Mortgage Applications Climb Last Week" : reuters.com Main page for "Mortgage Applications Climb Last Week"