For the second straight week, applications for purchase loans dropped on an annual basis. The decrease occurred even as interest rates hit their lowest level in nearly four months.
Applications for purchase loans fell 6 percent year over year for the week ending Oct. 4, and were down a seasonally adjusted 1 percent from the previous week, according to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
During the same period, refinance applications increased 3 percent, as the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a balance of $417,500 or less fell to 4.42 percent from 4.49 percent a week earlier, the MBA reported.
The MBA said that was the lowest rate for that category of mortgage that it’s recorded since mid-June.
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association