FX.co ★ U.S. Mortgage Applications Show Another Weekly Decrease

In the week ending March 29th, mortgage applications continued to decline, as revealed in a report by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, saw a decrease of 0.6 percent last week, on the heels of a 0.7 percent drop the week before.

The Refinance Index was chiefly responsible for the downward trend, plummeting by 2.0 percent from the prior week. The Purchase Index also noted a slight decrease, edging down by 0.1 percent from the previous week.

Despite a dip in mortgage rates over the previous week, overall mortgage application activity remained subdued. Joel Kan, Deputy Chief Economist and Vice President of MBA, noted that the persistently high mortgage rates deterred potential home buyers.

The report also highlighted a decrease in the refinance share of mortgage activity, dropping to 30.3 percent of all applications from 30.8 percent the preceding week.