Mortgage Purchase And Refinancing Applications Fall

Purchase applications for home mortgages fell a seasonally adjusted 1 percent in the August 24 week, but the unadjusted year-on-year gain increased by 2 percentage points from the prior week to 3 percent. Applications for refinancing fell 3 percent from the prior week, with the refinance share of mortgage activity remaining unchanged at 38.7 percent. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed rate conforming mortgages ($453,100 or less) decreased by 3 basis points from the prior week to 4.78 percent, the lowest rate since the week ending July 20. While last week's release of existing home sales for July confirmed the continuation of housing market weakness with a monthly decline of 0.7 percent and a year-on-year drop of 1.5 percent, the return to positive year-on-year territory in MBA purchase applications in the prior week and the widening of that gain to 3 percent this week may be signs of some strength regained.