Another week into autumn, another sluggish week in the mortgage biz.
Mortgage application volume fell 12.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis (-2.8 percent unadjusted) for the week ending October 23, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The refinance index slid 16.2 percent compared with the previous week, while the seasonally adjusted purchase index was off 5.2 percent from one week earlier.
Compared to a year ago, the unadjusted purchase index was off 15.4 percent, meaning we could be in for a long winter.
The refinance share of mortgage activity fell to 62.3 percent of total apps from 65 percent a week earlier, despite some improvement in interest rates.
The benchmark 30-year fixed actually slipped three basis points to 5.04 percent, but didn’t seem to be enough to wet homeowners’ appetites.
The 15-year fixed mortgage increased to 4.53 percent from 4.51 percent, while the one-year adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 6.79 percent from 6.86 percent.
The ARM-share of activity continues to increase, rising to 6.9 percent of total applications from 6.4 percent a week earlier.
The MBA’s weekly survey, released since 1990, covers more than half of all retail, residential home loan applications
However, it does not factor out declined or multiple loan applications, which have surely risen since the mortgage crisis got underway.
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