U.S. mortgage applications climb, rates at fresh low

U.S. mortgage rates set fresh record lows last week, fostering demand for refinancing that drove home loan applications to the highest level since mid-January, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed on Wednesday.

The pace of the rise ebbed from the prior three weeks, when homeowners in droves raced to refinance as average 30-year mortgage rates sank by a half percentage point. Last week, however, the rate dipped by just 0.02 point to 4.61 percent.

All eyes are on the housing market to see how soon a spate of government interventions stabilizes the deepest slump since the Great Depression, and thus energizes the U.S. economy.