Mortgage Purchase And Refinancing Applications Fall

Purchase applications for home mortgages fell a seasonally adjusted 2 percent in the March 30 week, shrinking the year-on-year gain in the Purchase Index by 3 percentage points to 5 percent. Refinancing applications fell 5 percent in the week, pulling down the refinance share of mortgage activity by 0.9 percentage points to 38.5 percent, the lowest level since September 2008. The average interest rate on the 30-year fixed rate conforming mortgages ($453,100 or less) remained unchanged at 4.69 percent. Despite the weekly decline, purchase applications continue to show solid year-on-year gains and point to housing market strength.