Homes in Daly City, California, US, on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. <\/p>\n
Jason Henry | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Mortgage demand took another leg lower, despite a brief respite from rising interest rates.<\/p>\n
Total mortgage application volume fell 5.3% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.<\/p>\n
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $832,750 or less, dropped last week to 7.41% from 7.50%, with points falling to 0.75 from 0.83 including the origination fee for loans with a 20% down payment. <\/p>\n
“Mortgage rates decreased for the first time in over two months,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist, in a release. “However, lower rates were not enough to boost application activity, as both purchase and refinance applications continued to decline.” <\/p>\n
Applications to refinance a home loan, which are most sensitive to weekly moves, fell just 2% week to week, a smaller drop than some previous weeks when rates were moving higher. Refinance demand was still 59% lower than the same week one year ago. With rates now over a full percentage point higher than they were a year ago, there is a very small pool of borrowers who can benefit from a refinance.<\/p>\n
Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home declined a steeper 7% for the week and were 18% lower from the year before. Buyers are reacting less to the weekly move in rates but more to the overall higher level. A report from the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday showed a sharp drop<\/a> in September pending home sales. These are measured by signed contracts, so it showed the real-time impact of rising rates during the month. Rates remained at that higher level in October. <\/p>\n Get Property Play directly to your inbox<\/p>\n CNBC’s Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox.<\/p>\n