Mortgage loan application volumes to either purchase or refinance a home in the U.S. ticked down 3.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis over the past week and were down 4 percent in the absolute, with a 4 percent drop in refinancing activity, which is nearing a two-year low, and a 3 percent drop in applications to purchase a home, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
And with pending sales activity in the U.S. having dipped in September and down 8 percent, year-over-year, purchase mortgage activity, which is currently down 9 percent versus the same time last year, was down an average of 10 percent on a year-over-year basis last month with the benchmark mortgage rate nearing a 16-month high.