New Mortgage Applications Rise

NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage applications rose last week even as interest rates jumped to their highest levels since mid-March, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Demand for home purchase loans, an indicator of home sales, far outweighed that for refinancing. The increase may help gauge how the hard-hit U.S. housing market is faring this spring, the peak home buying season.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications , which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended May 1 increased 2.0 percent to 979.7

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