The Mortgage
Bankers Association (MBA) announced
on Wednesday that the mortgage application volume in the U.S. slipped by 0.1 per cent in the week ended October 25, following a 6.7
per cent plummet the week before. This represented the fifth straight weekly drop in total mortgage
application volume.
According to
the MBA’s data, last week’s decrease in mortgage applications reflected
a 6.3 per cent plunge in mortgage refinance applications that was offset by a 5.0 per cent surge in
mortgage applications to purchase a home.
The report also
revealed that the average fixed 30-year mortgage rate climbed from 6.52 per cent to 6.73
per cent, the highest level in 13 weeks.
Commenting on
the latest survey results, Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist,
noted that after a brief burst of activity in September when rates were almost
60 basis points lower, overall applications had declined 27 per cent, driven by
a pullback in refinances. “Government refinances accounted for a large part of
the decrease, dropping 12 per cent over last week,” he added.