Total mortgage demand fell 1.8% last week, this was the 4th week in a row of declines, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index…(MBA)
- PURCHASES: The Purchase index was down 1% for the week and is down 18% from the same week one year ago.
- REFIS: The Refinance Index continued its fall dropping another 4% for the week and is now 83% lower than the same week one year ago.
NOTE: The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 30.7% and the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity decreased to 9.1% of total applications.
Mortgage rates saw a slight pullback last week as the 30-yr fixed fell 8 basis points to 5.74%. This is still 273 basis points higher than the same time one year ago.
- NOTE: The 15-yr fixed actually was up 7 basis points to 4.95% and the 5/1 ARM also increased 7 basis points to 4.67%.
Joel Kan, MBA Economist, said stabilizing rates could bring more buyers to the table. “Weakening purchase applications trends in recent months have been consistent with data showing a slowdown in sales for newly constructed homes and existing homes. A potential silver lining for the housing market is that stabilizing mortgage rates and increases in for-sale inventory may bring some buyers back to the market during the second half of the year.”