Mortgage demand in the US slipped to the lowest level since December 2018, even after rates declined slightly last week.
Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home fell 1 percent last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
Volume was 14 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
Despite a slight decline, mortgage rates are significantly higher than they were at the start of this year.
This is the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) decreased to 5.33 percent from 5.46 percent with points dropping to 0.51 from 0.60 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20 percent down payment.
“Mortgage rates fell for the fourth time in five weeks, as concerns of weaker economic growth and the recent stock market sell-off drove Treasury yields lower,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist.
Rising interest rates and steep gains in home prices are hitting affordability hard.
Prices continue to rise because there is still so little supply on the market, but different tiers of buyers are seeing different pictures.
This report’s information was first seen on CNBC; to read more, click this link.
