Mortgage rates at 3.14%, purchase demand remains firm

• "The yield on the 10-year Treasury note has been trending up due to the decline in new COVID cases, increasing consumer optimism, as well as broadening inflation and persistent shortages," chief economist Sam Khater commented.
• Touching its 6-month high levels, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.14% for the week ending Oct. 28, up from 3.09% in prior week and above from 2.81% averaged in same period a year ago, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey.
• 15-year FRM averages 2.37% up from last week when it averaged 2.33% and higher from 2.32% a year ago.
• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable rate mortgage averaged 2.56%, up from 2.54% in prior week, and lower from 2.88% a year ago.
• With the rise in mortgage rates, refinance activity has started to wane, with refis representing 62.2% of total applications, per a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week ending Oct. 22; refi index dipped 2% from the week prior, sitting 26% lower than it was the same week last year.
• National Association of Realtors indicated pending home sales dropped an unexpected 2.3% in September compared with August as higher mortgage rates against a slight monthly gain expected by analysts.