As a result, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages inched up to 6.14% week over week.
“With this move, refinance application volume declined on the week but remains almost three-times as high as last year’s pace,” Fratantoni added.
The refinance index fell by 3% from the previous week but remains 186% higher than the same week in 2023. Meanwhile, purchase applications saw a 1% increase both on a seasonally adjusted and unadjusted basis, with the latter being 9% higher than the same period last year.
“The news for the week was that more homebuyers appear to be entering the market,” Fratantoni said. “Purchase application activity was up for the week and increased more than 9% compared to last year at this time.
“Inventories of both new and existing homes have been increasing over the course of 2024, meaning that potential buyers have properties to look at and now have somewhat lower mortgage rates leading to better affordability.”