Mortgage application volume decreased 4% on an adjusted basis for the week ending July 5 compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
It was the second week in a row that mortgage application volume declined – a trend that started following the Federal Reserve's announcement on June 19 that it would start curtailing its bond-buying program in the fourth quarter. The announcement, in turn, resulted in increased market volatility and a subsequent spike in mortgage interest rates.
The decline in application volume is also due to the long July 4 holiday weekend, which resulted in less activity. This was accounted for in the MBA's data. On an unadjusted basis, the index dropped 23% compared with the previous week.
The report's Refinance Index, measuring application volume for refinancing, also decreased 4% from the previous week on an adjusted basis.
The Purchase Index decreased 3% from one week earlier on an adjusted basis and decreased 23% on an unadjusted basis.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 64% of total applications, while the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity decreased to 7% of total applications.
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