The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on
Wednesday its seasonally adjusted market composite index
tracking mortgage applications fell 2.4% from a week earlier,
reflecting a 3.8% decline in applications to refinance existing
loans in the week ending Aug. 27.
The average contract interest rate for traditional 30-year
mortgages was unchanged at 3.03%. Purchase applications rose
0.6%, hitting the highest level since early July, the MBA said.
After hitting record lows at the end of 2020 below 2.9%,
mortgage rates climbed in the first part of this year and peaked
in the spring. Rates had been drifting lower since, held down in
large part by the U.S. Federal Reserve's extraordinary stimulus
measures aimed at helping the economy rebound from the novel
coronavirus pandemic.
"Despite low rates, refinance applications declined, with some
borrowers still waiting for rates to drop even lower," said Joel
Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry
forecasting. "Recent uncertainty around the economy and pandemic
have kept rates low over the past month, which is why the
refinance index has oscillated around these levels."
(Reporting by Evan Sully; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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