Mortgage Purchase Applications Fall, Refinancing Rises

Home sales have been improving but slightly less improvement is the limited signal from weekly mortgage application data. Purchase applications fell 3.0 percent in the November 1 week to pull year-on-year growth down 3 tenths to a still very strong 7.0 percent. The dip came despite lower rates in the week as 30-year conforming mortgages fell 7 basis points to an average 3.98 percent, a move that may have helped refinancing applications which rose 2.0 percent in the week.