Mortgage Applications Fall For Fourth Straight Week

Applications for mortgages again fell last week throughout the U.S. as home mortgage rates rose, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

The number of applications filed at major mortgage lenders dropped for a fourth straight week, as adjustable-rate mortgage loans fell to their lowest share of applications in nearly four years.

The total number of applications filed - including both home purchase loan and refinancing products - was 0.4 percent lower on a week-to-week basis, but they were up about 11 percent compared with the same week a year ago.

The data does not indicate, however, how many of the home purchase or home mortgage refinancing applications were actually accepted.

The number of applications filed to refinance an existing home mortgage dropped 4 percent last week.

Home loan refinancing applications, while up about 32 percent compared with the same week a year ago, accounted for just 43 percent of total applications, the smallest number in six months.

The volume of mortgage loan applications to buy a house or condo rose by about 2.7 percent compared with the previous week, but purchase loans were down about 1 percent in comparison with a year ago.

By comparison, U.S. home sales are down 5.5 percent from the same time last year. Meanwhile, mortgage rates rose last week.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan increased to 6.16 percent from 6.13 percent, the highest in six weeks. The rate for a 15-year fixed loan - a popular mortgage refinance option - rose to an average of 5.91 percent, the highest in eight weeks, up from 5.85 percent.

Average rates for one-year ARMs nosed up to 5.88 percent from 5.87 percent on a week-to-week basis. ARMs accounted for just 19 percent of last week’s loan applications, the smallest share since July 2003.

SOURCE: MarketWatch