Weekly mortgage refinances increase 20% after interest rates drop

The owners saw an opportunity last week and grabbed it. A sudden and unexpected drop in mortgage rates sent borrowers to their lenders in droves, hoping to save on their monthly payments.

Home loan refinancing requests jumped 20% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly index, which has been seasonally adjusted, including for the holidays of the 4th. July.

The demand for refinancing is very sensitive to weekly and even daily rate variations. While the decline was not really huge, it was sufficient, as rates were expected to start rising with the strength of the economy.

The average contractual interest rate for 30-year fixed rate mortgages with compliant loan balances ($ 548,250 or less) decreased to 3.09% from 3.15%, with points dropping from 0, 37 to 0.38 (including set-up costs) for loans with a reduction of 20%. Payment.

“Treasury bill yields have tended to decline over the past month as investors remain concerned about the Covid-19 variant and slowing economic growth,” said Joel Kan, associate vice president of economic forecasting and industrial MBA. “As a result, mortgage rates fell for the second week in a row, with the 30-year fixed rate hitting 3.09%, its lowest level since February 2021.”

Kan noted that there may have been a delayed overflow of requests from the week before, when rates also declined, but there was not much response in terms of refinancing requests.

Refinancing demand, however, was still 29% lower than in the same week a year. The rates were actually slightly higher around the same time a year ago, but the loans were very tight. Lenders are now starting to slack off a bit, given slowing demand for home loans, which may give some borrowers savings opportunities they weren’t able to get a year ago.

Mortgage applications for the purchase of a home were up 8% for the week, but were 29% lower than a year ago. The average loan amount for purchase requisitions fell to its lowest level since January.

“We continue to see ebbs and flows as housing demand remains strong but inventory for sale remains low. However, lower rates may help some homebuyers close their purchases, especially first-time buyers. ownership, ”Kan said.

The supply of homes for sale is finally starting to increase, which could also bring some buyers back into the market after being edged out by stiff competition over the past year.

Mortgage rates started to climb again this week, after the consumer price index, one of the main benchmarks of inflation, rose at the fastest pace in nearly 30 years.