The number of applications to secure a purchase mortgage loan for an existing home in the U.S. dropped 5 percent over the past week on both an absolute and seasonally adjusted basis, reversing an uptick the week prior, according to application data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
As such, purchase mortgage activity was 26 percent lower than at the same time last year, with the average spread (i.e., risk premium) between the 10-year treasury and benchmark 30-year mortgage rate having widened; the benchmark 30-year rate inching back up; the average rate for a 30-year jumbo nearing 6.5 percent; and credit availability on the decline.