Mortgage demand continues its downward trajectory falling for the sixth straight week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey.
- Purchase demand fell 1.0% for the week and is now down 41$ year-over-year.
- Refi demand was actually up 0.2% but is still down a whopping 85% from the same time one year ago.
Breaking It Down. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased slightly to 28.6% of total applications while the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity decreased to 11.8% of total applications.
Falling Rates. Helping provide some relief, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell 10 basis points to 7.06% for the week ending October 28th. This is 382 basis points higher than one-year ago.
- The 15-year fell two bips to 6.37% and the 5/1 ARM was down seven basis points to 5.79%
Analysis. Joel Kan, MBA economist, said demand fell despite falling rates and refis continue to remain almost nonexistent for good reason. “With most homeowners locked into significantly lower rates, refinance applications continued to run more than 80 percent below last year’s pace, while the refinance share of applications was 28.6 percent – the fifth straight week below 30 percent.”