Mortgage demand saw a slight drop of 0.7% from one week earlier, according to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey…(MBA)
- REFIS: The Refinance Index fell just 1.0% for the week and is down a whopping 56% from the same time last year.
- PURCHASES: The Purchase Index was down 2% for the week and is now down 9.0% from the same time last year.
NOTE: The refinance share of mortgage activity fell under 50% for the first time since July 24th, 2019. Refis made up 49.9% of total applications from 50.1% the previous week.
Recent downward pressure on rates is not reflected in this report that surveyed the week ending February 25th instead showing an almost 10 basis point increase…
- 30-YR FIXED: The average contract interest rate was up 9 basis points to 4.15%, this is 92 basis points higher than one year ago.
- 15-YR FIXED: The average contract interest rate was up 5 basis points to 3.47%, this is now 83 basis points higher than one year ago.
Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting, said higher rates are negatively impacting both refis and purchases somewhat equally…
- “The 30-year fixed rate reached its highest level since 2019 at 4.15 percent, and the refinance share of applications dipped below 50 percent. Although there was an increase in government refinance applications, higher rates continue to push potential refinance borrowers out of the market…”Purchase activity remained weak, but the average loan size increased again, which indicates that home-price growth remains strong, and a greater share of the activity is occurring at the higher end of the market.”
