Mortgage Purchase And Refinancing Applications Fall

Purchase applications for home mortgages fell a seasonally adjusted 2 percent in the April 27 week, pulling down the year-on-year unadjusted gain to 5 percent. Applications for refinancing fell 4 percent, taking the refinance share of mortgage activity down 0.7 percentage points from the prior week to 36.5 percent, the lowest level since September 2008. Mortgage rates rose to the highest level since September 2013, with the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgages ($453,100 or less) up 7 basis points from the previous week to 4.80 percent.