Talking Points

  • Total mortgage application volume rose just 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
  • The slight dip in rates last week did boost applications to refinance by 3 percent for the week, but they are still 41 percent lower compared with the same week one year ago.
  • Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 2 percent for the week, seasonally adjusted to their lowest level since May.
  • The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) decreased to 4.17 percent from 4.22 percent, with points increasing to 0.40 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans.
  • The slight dip in rates last week boosted applications to refinance by 3 percent for the week, but they are still 41 percent lower compared with the same week one year ago, when rates were considerably lower. 
  • The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 46.0 percent of total applications from 44.7 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 6.8 percent of total applications.