Despite the increase in interest rates, weekly mortgage demand remained stable.

• The number of applications to refinance a home loan increased by 2% during the week and was 43% greater compared to the same week last year.
• The interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances rose from 6.86% to 6.90%.
• The number of mortgage applications for purchasing a home increased by 2% during the week, although it was 1% lower compared to the same week last year.

Despite a four-week increase in mortgage rates, total application volume rose by 1.7% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index.

The interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances increased to 6.90% from 6.86%, with points rising to 0.70 from 0.60 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. This was the highest level since July.

The number of mortgage applications to buy a home increased by 2% during the week, although it was 1% lower than the same week a year ago. The increase in purchase demand was due to both conventional and FHA loans, with FHA applications seeing a 7% rise.

Some markets have seen a loosening of for-sale inventory, allowing potential buyers to benefit from increasing supply and lower FHA rates, which were slightly down compared to the conforming 30-year fixed rate, according to Joel Kan, an MBA economist, in a release.

The number of applications to refinance a home loan increased by 2% during the week, which was 43% higher than the same week last year. The increase in demand was due to a 10% rise in VA applications.

According to Mortgage News Daily, mortgage rates have remained relatively stable this week. Although they increased on Monday, they decreased on Tuesday following the news that the U.S. had authorized Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack Russia. This led to a decrease in bond yields as investors sought a safer investment option.

Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily, wrote that the improvement in mortgage rates was underwhelming relative to the news headlines, possibly because it's not the first threat from Russia or because traders are skeptical about anyone wanting to push any of the red buttons on the 'mutually assured destruction' machine.