Mortgage Purchase And Refinancing Applications Increase

Undeterred by the highest interest rates in ten months, homebuyers led the 4.5 percent increase in mortgage application activity in the January 19 week, with purchase applications for home mortgages rising by a seasonally adjusted 6.0 percent from the previous week. The increase left the year-on-year gain in the unadjusted Purchase Index unchanged from the previous week's 7 percent due to a higher base in the corresponding week last year. Applications for refinancing, which tend to be more sensitive to interest rates, rose just 1 percent from the previous week, taking the refinancing share of mortgage activity down 0.8 percentage points to 49.4 percent. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed rate conforming mortgages ($453,100 or less) rose 3 basis points in the week to 4.36 percent, the highest level since March 2017. The recent acceleration in mortgage applications despite rising interest rates points to acceleration of the housing market strength seen in the last quarter.