“Mortgage rates were mostly lower last week, with the 30-year fixed rate declining slightly to 6.93%, the lowest level in more than three months,” Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the MBA, said in the report. “Lower rates, however, were still not enough to entice refinance borrowers back, as most continue to hold mortgages with considerably lower rates.”
The refinance index remained essentially unchanged from the previous week but was 26% higher than the same week one year ago. Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 1% week-over-week. On an unadjusted basis, purchase applications decreased by 10% compared to the previous week and was 13% lower than the same week one year ago.
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Kan highlighted a positive trend in government-backed loans, saying, “Purchase applications did see a small increase after adjusting for the Juneteenth holiday. Government purchase loans, primarily FHA and VA, saw gains of more than 2% over the previous week, as homebuyers in those segments sought to take advantage of the recent rate relief.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity slightly decreased to 35.1% of total applications from 35.2% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share increased to 6.1% of total applications.
