Interest Rates, Mortgage Application Volume Down Last Week

Last week, interest rates for home loans dropped for the third time in 2018, yet total mortgage application volume dropped 0.4 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The data seems to signal that homebuyers and owners did not see the rate drop as enough encouragement to apply for home loans. CNBC's Diana Olick says that home mortgage applications "should be surging," due to high demand and the time of year being the peak spring buying season. Yet, applications fell 0.2 percent for the week, and were about 3 percent higher YOY. Refinance applications were down 1 percent for the week. 

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) decreased to 4.78 percent from 4.80 percent, with points decreasing to 0.50 from 0.53 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio loans. "Mortgage rates dipped slightly last week driven mainly by concerns about global growth," said Joel Kan, an MBA economist. "The refinance index continued to slip and was at its lowest since 2008, as was the refinance share of applications."

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