U.S. mortgage applications to buy a home rose from their lowest levels in nearly six months as most home borrowing costs were little changed last week, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association released on Wednesday showed.

The Washington-based group’s seasonally adjusted index on borrowers’ requests for home purchases to lenders, which is seen as a proxy on future housing activity, rose 2.9 percent to 232.1 in the week ended Aug. 17. The previous week’s 225.5 was the lowest reading since the one set in the week of Feb. 16.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 38.7 percent of total applications from 37.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.5 percent of total applications.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) remained unchanged from 4.81 percent.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.25 percent from 4.27 percent.