Mortgage<\/a> applications reversed course last week after a brief rebound the week before. Total volume for refinancings and home purchases plunged 4.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted week-over-week basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. The index is now 19 percent lower than the same week a year ago.<\/p>\n\n The average loan<\/a> amount on purchase applications is moving higher. Last week, the average loan<\/a> amount was $317,000, which is the highest since May, the MBA reports.<\/p>\n\n Meanwhile, applications for refinancing, which tend to be influenced more by interest rates, dropped 3 percent last week. Refinancing applications are down 36 percent from a year ago.<\/p>\n\n The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.18 percent last week, up from 4.14 percent in the previous week, the MBA reports. That marks the highest average since July.<\/p>\n\n Source: \u201cWeekly Mortgage Applications Fall 4.6% as Rates Rise,\u201d CNBC (Oct. 25, 2017)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n<\/pre>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n Realtors <\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/realtormag.realtor.org\/sites\/realtormag.realtor.org\/files\/rmo_files\/images\/2017_oct\/Mortgage_Activity_102517.png\")
Home purchase<\/a> applications faced the biggest drops last week, falling 6 percent week over week, the MBA reports. Economists say that rising interest rates likely had less to do with the drop than the shortage of homes for sale<\/a>. Inventories of homes for-sale remain low across the country. Nevertheless, purchase applications still remain 10 percent higher than the same week a year ago.<\/p>\n\n