U.S. mortgage applications rose for a second straight week, with demand for home refinancing loans rising to its highest level since early June, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. Applications for loans to buy a home, an early indicator of sales, rose slightly, but nevertheless gained for a fourth consecutive week. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended August 21 increased 7.5 percent to 566.4. Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 5.24 percent, up 0.09 percentage point from the previous week and above the all-time low of 4.61 percent set in the week ended March 27. The survey has been conducted weekly since 1990. Interest rates, however, were well below year-ago levels of 6.44 percent.
