Mortgage Applications Decline the Week Ending October 18th, The Fourth Consecutive Drop

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Friday, October 18th, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—decreased 6.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index declined 7.0% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 8.0% from the previous week but was 90.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5.0% compared to one week ago. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 5.0% compared with the previous week but was 3.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

Commenting on the results of the latest survey, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan said:

“Mortgage rates saw mixed results last week, but the 30-year fixed rate remained unchanged at 6.52%. Application activity decreased to its lowest level since July, as both purchase and refinance applications saw declines. Purchase applications continued to run stronger than last year’s pace for the fifth consecutive week. Even though rates have been on a recent upswing, they are over a full percentage point lower than a year ago, which has kept some homebuyers in the market. For-sale inventory has started to loosen, and home-price growth has eased in some markets, providing more options for buyers in combination with these lower rates.”