According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell again last week. Rates were down from the week before for 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances and loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. It was the third consecutive weekly decline. Despite the improvement, however, demand for mortgage applications was also down week-over-week. Mostly, the decrease was due to a drop in refinance activity, which slowed after a significant spike the week before. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, says conditions are stabilizing. “Both mortgage rates and mortgage applications have now stabilized after a few weeks of financial market volatility, which led to a quick drop in mortgage rates,” Kan said. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)
