The number of applications to secure a purchase mortgage loan for an existing home in the U.S. dropped another 5 percent over the past week in the absolute and 4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to application data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
As such, purchase mortgage activity was down 30 percent on a year-over-year basis, with the benchmark 30-year rate now hovering around 6.7 percent; the average rate for a 30-year jumbo nearing 6.6 percent; and credit availability on the decline, none of which should catch any plugged-in readers, other than the most obstinate, by surprise.