Here’s a quick look at the most significant economic indicators of the day and what they tell us.
Mortgage Applications
Interest in new and refinanced home loans hasn’t been this low in decades, thanks to higher mortgage rates. A weekly index measuring the volume of mortgage applications for home purchases and refinancing dropped for the fourth week in a row last week, falling 6.5% and reaching its lowest point in 22 years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The volume of applications for purchases fell 7% while the volume of refinance applications dropped 6%. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 5.53% last month, its highest since 2009, according to MBA’s measure. While it has dipped a little since then (5.4% last week), it’s still a full 2 percentage points higher than it was at the start of the year.
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