Mortgage applications have increased in the past few weeks, as interest rates stabilized at some of the lowest levels seen this year.

For the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the figure posted an average of 4.13 percent during the week ending July 24, 2014, no different from one week earlier, according to a the latest edition of the Primary Mortgage Market Survey from government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac. The latest measurement was also notably lower than a year earlier, as that level was 4.31 percent.

The 15-year FRM had a slightly different story. The report noted that this measurement rose to 3.26 percent in its latest reading, as it was 3.23 percent one week earlier. Both figures were smaller than the same week 12 months ago, as that level was 3.39 percent.

"Mortgage rates were little changed for the week with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remaining unchanged," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac. "Meanwhile, we received some good news on housing with existing home sales climbing 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in June, the highest pace since October 2013."

The adjustable-rate mortgage situation had a similar story. The report showed that the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM had a level of 2.99 percent during the most recent measurement, slightly higher than the previous figure of 2.97 percent. Each level was notably lower than a year ago, when it averaged 3.16 percent.

There was no change in the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM, as the figure averaged 2.39 percent during both weeks, the report added. This was still notably lower than a year ago, when the average was 2.65 percent.

Mortgage applications improve in mid-July
The lack of mortgage rate fluctuation may be playing a role in the number of mortgage applications used. According to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association, the overall mortgage application volume level rose 2.4 percent during the week ending July 18, 2014 from a week previous.

Refinances also improved in multiple measurements, as the Refinance Index rose 4 percent week-over-week, the report noted. There was a slight gain in the refinance share of mortgage activity, as that improved to 54.4 percent of the total share from the previous level of 53.6 percent.