Mortgage applications increased 1.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 4.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 1.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 2 percent compared with the previous week.  The boost was spurred by a rise in convention loans.

Refinances were also up, with the MBA’s Refinance Index increasing 1.3 percent from the previous week, driven by a 1.8 percent increase to the Conventional Refinance Index, while the Government Refinance Index decreased 2.3 percent. 

Though both purchases and refinances were up, the stronger growth in purchase applications drove the refinance share of mortgage activity down to 72.1 percent of total applications from 72.6 percent the previous week, with  the government purchase share dropping over the week from 37 percent to 35.8 percent of all purchase applications, the lowest government purchase share since March 2009.