Mortgage Purchase And Refinancing Applications Fall

Purchase applications for home mortgages fell a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in the May 4 week, shrinking the unadjusted year-on-year gain to 3 percent. Applications for refinancing fell 1 percent from the previous week to their lowest level since October 2008, with the refinance share of mortgage activity decreasing by 0.2 percentage points to 36.3 percent, the smallest share since September 2008. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed rate conforming mortgages ($453,100 or less) fell 2 basis points from the previous week to 4.78 percent.