Mortgage Purchase And Refinancing Falls

Purchase applications for home mortgages fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent in the October 27 week, posting the second weekly decline in what may be a reaction to another uptick in mortgage rates. Refinancing applications, which tend to be more sensitive to interest rate movements, fell by 5 percent from the previous week, taking the refinancing share of total application activity down 0.8 percentage points to 48.7 percent. The average interest rate on conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages ($424,100 or less) rose 4 basis points to 4.22 percent, the highest rate since July. Despite the weekly decline, purchase applications remain a very solid 10 percent above the year ago level and give a positive signal for underlying home sales.