U.S. weekly mortgage applications surge 16 percent

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Wednesday the mortgage application volume in the U.S. surged 16.0 percent in the week ended July 9, following a 1.8 percent drop in the previous week. This marked the largest gain in total mortgage application volume since early January.

According to the report, refinance applications climbed 20.4 percent, while applications to purchase a home jumped 8.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the average fixed 30-year mortgage rate decreased from 3.15 percent to 3.09 percent, the lowest level since February 2021.

“Treasury yields have trended lower over the past month as investors remained concerned about the Covid-19 variant and slowing economic growth,” noted Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “Mortgage rates fell for the second consecutive week as a result, with the 30-year fixed rate hitting 3.09%, its lowest level since February 2021.” He also added that there may have been a delayed spillover of applications from the previous week, when rates also decreased but there was not much of response in terms of refinance applications.