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Mortgage Applications Drop 5.3% Despite Rate Decline
Purchase applications fell for a seventh straight week as refinance demand sank 57% from a year earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
- Mortgage applications to purchase a home plunged further in the week ending October 16, marking the seventh consecutive week of declines, as the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 7.41% from 7.5%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
- The housing market has remained frozen for four years as interest rates stayed in the 6-8% range since early September 2022, preventing buyers from accessing the below-3% mortgages once common before the Federal Reserve's intervention.
- Purchase mortgage applications plunged 18% from last year's pace, while refinance applications dropped 57% year-over-year and 76% from the same week in 2019, reflecting sustained demand collapse.
- Thomas Lloyd, chief strategy officer at Xactus, reported the Mortgage Intent Index fell 5.65% week over week to 96.9, stating "modest rate relief has yet to translate into a meaningful improvement" in borrower activity.
- High carrying costs—including mortgage payments, property taxes, homeowners insurance premiums, and HOA fees—continue triggering an affordability crisis, making renting the cheaper monthly option in many markets despite the recent rate dip.
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(New York = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Yeon-sook = US mortgage (mortgage) interest rates, which had been soaring, fell after about two months, but demand for home purchases actually shrank...
·Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
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Mortgage rates in the U.S. fell for the first time in over two months, but this decline did not lead to an increase in applications. Home purchases and refinancing requests decreased, with purchase applications falling 18 percent year-on-year.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources19
Leaning Left0Leaning Right1Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution75% Center
Bias Distribution
- 75% of the sources are Center
75% Center
C 75%
R 25%
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