Mortgage refinance applications rose nationwide while purchase applications dropped for the fourth consecutive week, according to the latest survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week that ended May 28. The trade group’s refinance index climbed 2.4 percent week-over-week, keeping the metric at its highest level since October 2009, though this was a smaller increase than in recent weeks past. Meanwhile, the purchase index dropped 4.1 percent week-over-week and is at its lowest level since April 1997. Michael Fratantoni, vice president of research and economics for the MBA, attributed the disparity between purchasing and refinancing applications to continued historically low mortgage rates: the average contract interest rate for the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage came in at 4.83 percent during the week, up slightly from 4.80 percent during the week prior. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.24 percent, down from 4.25 percent one week ago. TRD