“Mortgage rates barely moved in the last week,” said Holden Lewis, home and mortgage expert at NerdWallet. “At the same time, the Federal Reserve kept short-term rates unchanged. Economic uncertainty contributed to the standstill in both places. But uncertainty has another side to it: A bit of unexpected news could move mortgage rates swiftly in either direction.”
While rates remained flat, the housing market saw an unexpected lift in buyer interest.
“At this time last year, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 30 basis points higher and purchase applications were declining,” Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater pointed out. “Today, rates are lower and have remained stable for weeks, sparking continued increases in purchase applications.”
Mortgage Bankers Association data showed total loan application activity increased by 11% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the prior week, with both purchase and refinance applications rising 11% week over week.
Conventional purchase application volume rose by 13% and was up 9% compared to the same period last year, a surprisingly strong performance given the backdrop of economic uncertainty.