Mortgage Applications Decline Again This Week
United States mortgage applications fell for a second straight week as mortgage rates remained near recent highs, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.
In its seasonally adjusted index of home mortgage applications, which includes both mortgage refinance and home purchase loan activity, the group said borrowing for the week ending June 22 fell 3.9 percent.
That’s the lowest in four months. The four-week moving average of mortgage applications, more accurate than volatile weekly figures, declined by 0.7 percent.
Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loans, excluding fees, averaged 6.60 percent, unchanged from the week before.
Rates are hovering around their highest since mid-2006. A year earlier, home loan rates stood at 6.86 percent.
The MBA’s seasonally adjusted purchase index, widely considered a timely gauge of U.S. home sales, fell 4.9 percent to 428.9.
The index was above its year-ago level of 389.0.
The group’s seasonally adjusted index of mortgage refinancing applications fell 2.5 percent to its lowest point this year. Also, the refinance share of applications increased to 38.7 percent from 38.0 percent.
- Fixed 15-year mortgage rates - traditionally a popular mortgage refinancing option - averaged 6.24 percent, down from last week’s 6.28 percent.
- Prior to this week, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages - the industry’s benchmark home loan product - had been on an upward trend.
Average rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) fell to 5.51 percent from 5.70 percent. The ARM share of activity increased to 20.4 percent from 20.3 percent the previous week.
Recent data from home sales, released by other institutions, suggest a delayed recovery for the continuously hard-hit housing market.
The MBA’s weekly survey covers about 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential home loans. Respondents include mortgage lenders, banks and thrifts.
SOURCE: Reuters