U.S. mortgage applications slid for a sixth straight week as
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of total applications dropped 5% in the week ended April 15 to 374, the lowest since February 2019, the Washington-based group said Wednesday.
The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose 7 basis points to 5.2%, the highest since April 2010. The rate has climbed 1.14 percentage points in the last eight weeks. That’s the quickest rise since 2003. The effective rate, which includes the effects of compounding, rose to 5.39%.
“The recent surge in mortgage rates has shut most borrowers out of rate/term refinances, causing the refinance index to fall for the sixth consecutive week,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting.
“In a housing market facing affordability challenges and low inventory, higher rates are causing a pullback or delay in home purchase demand as well,” Kan said.
The MBA’s refinancing index decreased 7.7% to the lowest level since March 2019. Purchase applications fell 3% last week and are down more than 8% so far this year.
The survey covers over 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.
