Mortgage rates rose slightly last week, but refinancing demand continued to drive a modest uptick in overall applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up 4 basis points last week to 6.88%, the MBA said. This was a bounce back from the week before when the MBA survey recorded rates
"The combination of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, current economic conditions, and last week's FOMC meeting resulted in slightly lower Treasury rates on average. However, mortgage rates still edged higher but remained in the same narrow range," said Joel Kan, MBA's vice president and deputy chief economist, in a press release.
Mortgage rates have fluctuated within a 20 basis point range since mid-April, moving between 6.81% and 6.98%. High rates have created a
Total mortgage applications were up 1.1% for the week, buoyed mostly by interest in refinancing. Applications for refinancing rose 3% for the week, making up 38.4% of all applications. This was also 29% higher than the same time last year. Purchase applications, meanwhile, dipped 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Conventional loans made up only 68.5% of all loan applications, a drop from
VA loans fell slightly to 11.7% of all applications, down from 12.1% the week before, while USDA loans decreased to 0.5%.
Buyers hoping for an adjustable rate mortgage were left paying slightly more than the week before, with rates for those mortgages rising 6 basis points to 6.16%. These mortgages made up 6.9% of total applications.
