No rest for the weary this week as mortgage demand continued to fall after purchase demand hit a 28-year low the prior week, according to the latest weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
- Purchase demand fell 6.0% from one week earlier and is now down 44% when compared to the same week one year ago.
- Refi demand also fell 6.0% from the previous week and is now 74% lower than the same week one year ago.
All About Rate. Joel Kan, MBA economist, notes that the inverse relationship between rates and demand is more evident now than ever. “After a brief revival in application activity in January when mortgage rates dropped down to 6.2 percent, there has now been three straight weeks of declines in applications as mortgage rates have jumped 50 basis points over the past month,”
- 30-year fixed averaged 6.71% for the week ending February 24th, up 9 basis points from last week and is now up 53 basis points from the first week of February.
- 15-year fixed averaged 6.13% for the week ending February 24th, up 15 basis points from last week and is now up 69 basis points from the first week of February.
4-Month High. Rates are now at their highest level since November 11th when the 30-year fixed was at 6.90%.
Breaking It Down. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 31.8% and the share of ARM activity increased to 8.1% of total applications.
