Applications for mortgages fell 13.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last week as interest rates on fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages inched up, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in releasing the results of its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Applications for refinancings were down 13.7 percent from the previous week for the week ending Oct. 16, and demand for purchase loans declined a seasonally adjusted 7.6 percent. Those numbers also included an adjustment to account for the Columbus Day holiday.
Looking back a year, demand for purchase loans was down 3.4 percent.
Requests for refinancings accounted for 65 percent of total applications, down from 67.4 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate-mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.4 percent from 6.2 percent of total applications from the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.07 percent from 5.02 percent, with points increasing to 1.13 from 1.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.51 percent from 4.44 percent, with points decreasing to 0.96 from 1.04 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 6.86 percent from 6.71 percent, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.32 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
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