With the holidays out of the way, mortgage shoppers were out in droves this week inquiring about new mortgages. Rates are likely to be lower in next week's report, possibly leading the way for activity to escalate further.

Mortgage inquiries climbed 35 percent from last week, leaving the U.S. Mortgage Market Index from Mortech Inc. and Mortgage Daily for the week ended Jan. 13 at 247.

The index was up 11 percent from the week ended Jan. 12, 2011.

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