Mortgage Purchase And Refinancing Applications Rise On Lower Interest Rates

Driven by the third consecutive weekly drop in interest rates, mortgage activity increased in the November 30 week, with purchase applications up a seasonally adjusted 1 percent and refinancing up 6 percent from the prior week. Results from the prior week, when seasonally adjusted purchase applications showed a much stronger 9 percent increase, included an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday. Unadjusted, purchase applications rose 36 percent compared to the previous week but were just 0.2 percent higher than in the same week last year, shedding almost all of the previous week's 2 percent year-on-year gain. The refinance share of mortgage activity rose 2.5 percentage points to 40.4 percent. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgages ($453,100 or less) fell 4 basis points from the prior week to 5.08 percent. Indicating fewer jumbo borrowers or perhaps more first-time buyers, the average loan size for purchase applications decreased from $313,000 to $298,000, the lowest level since December 2017.