Mortgage applications in the United States fell by 5.7% in the week ending May 24, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released on Wednesday. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was up to 7.05% from last week's 7.01%. The refinance index dropped to 463.8 from 536.9 last week and the purchase index decreased to 138.4 from 140 in the previous report.
"Both purchase and refinance applications fell, pushing overall activity to the lowest level since early March. Borrowers remain sensitive to small increases in rates, impacting the refinance market and keeping purchase applications below last year’s levels," MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan said.
