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Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely
held type of U.S. home loans, climbed with a jump in benchmark
Treasury yields in the wake of encouraging domestic economic
data and Wall Street hitting record highs.
Thirty-year mortgage rates approached their record lows two
weeks ago as the 10-year Treasury yield <US10YT=RR> reached
historic lows on fears about the repercussion on global economic
growth from Britain's vote to leave the European Union and bets
on more stimulus from overseas central banks to cushion their
economies from Brexit.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted
index of total mortgage activity fell 1.3 percent in the week
ended July 15 from the previous week.
The group's gauge on refinancing applications fell 1 percent
from the prior week when it reached its highest level since June
2013.
The group's seasonally adjusted gauge on loan requests for home
purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, declined 2 percent
last week.
The share of weekly refinancing requests was 64.2 percent of
total applications, compared with 64.0 percent the previous
week, the Washington-based group said.
The average rate on "conforming" 30-year home mortgages, or
loans with balances of $417,000 or less, rose to 3.65 percent,
MBA said.
The prior week's 3.60 percent was the lowest 30-year average
rate since May 2013 and not far from the historic low of 3.47
percent struck in December 2012, according to MBA data.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield <US10YT=RR> touched a
record low of 1.321 percent on July 6. It was 1.571 percent on
Wednesday, up 1 basis point from late on Tuesday, according to
Reuters data.
(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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