Mortgage Purchase Applications Rise, Refinancing Falls

Purchase applications for home mortgages rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in the September 28 week, a marginal increase that failed to keep up with the rise in the same week last year and took the year-on-year gain down 1 percentage point to 3 percent. Applications for refinancing fell 0.1 percent from the prior week, with the refinancing share of mortgage activity remaining unchanged at 39.4 percent. After rising sharply in the prior week to the highest level since April 2011, the average interest rate on 30-year fixed rate conforming mortgages ($453,100 or less) eased by 1 basis point to 4.96 percent. Ending the quarter with a 3 percent year-on-year gain, purchase applications are not signaling vigorous demand in a housing market that has become the weak spot of the economy this year, nevertheless the modest growth does show an improvement from the end of the previous quarter, when applications were below their level last year.