Interest rate volatility has dissuaded borrowers for months, but some returned to the mortgage market last week.

Mortgage application volume increased 5.1 percent from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted survey.

The gain was driven by applications to refinance a home loan, which rose 6 percent for the week but were still 31 percent lower than a year ago, when interest rates were lower. Refinance volume is highly sensitive to interest rate moves, and while there was no move last week, rates seem to be steadying a bit after a rocky rise.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) remained unchanged at 4.83 percent, with points decreasing to 0.48 from 0.53 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.