Mortgage Purchase Applications Rise, Refinancing Applications Slow

Purchase applications for home mortgages erased the prior week's decline and rose a seasonally adjusted 3.0 percent in the October 14 week, but refinancing applications continued to slow down and were off 1.0 percent after an 8.0 percent decline in the previous week. The unadjusted purchase index fell 7 percent from the previous week to a level that is 13 percent higher than the same week a year ago. While mortgage rates were still not far from their record lows, they rose to the highest level since June, with the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgages ($417,000 or less) rising 5 basis points to 3.73 percent.