Mortgage Activity Increases Despite Rise in Interest Rates
Through the week ending October 6th, total mortgage activity increased 0.6% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose 14 basis points to 7.67%, per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey. Increasing 40 basis points over the past month, the FRM rate has risen to its highest level since 2000.
According to Eye On Housing, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, rose by 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis from one week earlier. Purchasing activity increased 0.6%, while refinancing activity increased 0.3% week-over-week.
Interest rates remained above seven and a half percent for the second consecutive week. The combination of increased rates and low existing for-sale inventory have continued to dismay potential buyers as the purchase index remained historically low. The seasonally adjusted purchase index was 19.4% lower than one year ago while the seasonally adjusted refinancing index was 8.8% lower than one year ago.
